Student Chapter Updates

AAAR at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Tahsina Alam, Chapter President

The AAAR Student Chapter at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign continued to build momentum throughout 2025 with a mix of professional development, outreach, and community-focused activities. We kicked off the year with a documentary screening of Fire in Paradise, followed by an open discussion on aerosol–wildfire interactions and science communication. Members appreciated the chance to connect research concepts with real-world impacts.

Recognizing the importance of community and wellness, the chapter organized several informal events to keep members connected throughout the summer and fall. A visit to The Scratching Post in Champaign offered a relaxed hour of “cat therapy,” providing an unexpected but welcome mid-week reset. Later, a group visit to Clearview Farm allowed members to enjoy outdoor time and meet incoming graduate students in a casual setting.

Our largest event brought together AAAR@UIUC and the 4FGSAC graduate student community for a fall trip to Curtis Orchard. Members spent the morning apple picking and sharing warm cider, which turned into an engaging networking space for students from atmospheric sciences, environmental engineering, and sustainability.

These events strengthened chapter cohesion, encouraged interdisciplinary conversations, and helped create a supportive environment for new and continuing members. We look forward to expanding professional programming and outreach activities in the coming year.

AAAR @ UIUC members at the documentary screening of ‘Fire in Paradise’

AAAR at the University of Maryland

Esther Olonimoyo, Outgoing Chapter President

Members of our UMD Student chapter attended major conferences this year, including AGU, ACS, and AAAR, where we shared our latest aerosol research. At the Annual AAAR in Buffalo, New York, four members, including Kaitlyn Hunter, Esther Olonimoyo, Martin Ahn, and Steph Jacoby, delivered four oral and poster presentations and enjoyed connecting with colleagues across the aerosol community. Outgoing President Esther Olonimoyo also hosted the AAAR 2025 May AS&T Lecture Series, featuring an engaging talk titled “The microphysics of surrogates of exhaled aerosols from the upper respiratory tract” by Dr. Jianghan Tian, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Hertfordshire. The session was highly interactive, sparking thoughtful discussion and drawing strong participation from members of the UMD chapter.

In addition, members volunteered with students exploring careers in engineering, hosting lab tours in the Environmental Aerosol Research Lab with Dr. Akua Asa-Awuku. During the tours members demonstrated the operation of Condensation Particle Counters (CPCs), including a visual demonstration of aerosol light scattering. We are also proud to celebrate the achievements of our members: former chapter president and vice president, Dr. Nahin Ferdous-Rokib and Dr. Esther Olonimoyo, successfully defended their dissertations in the Spring and Fall semesters, and other members advanced to candidacy, including Martin and Steph. We wish them success in their future endeavors. 

We are excited about the growth of our student chapter and look forward to expanding membership to regional institutions in the near future through aerosol science outreaches and research seminars.

AAAR at Colorado State University

Camille Mavis, Chapter President

The student chapter of AAAR at Colorado State University is pleased to report a successful Fall semester series of student-led seminars. Research topics have ranged from: capturing new particle formation events in models, observations of ice nucleating particles in the Arctic, to chamber studies for characterizing PM from household material. These talks are intended to provide a platform for Master’s and PhD students to practice sharing their research in an informal setting. This has resulted in discussions and suggestions for future work from experts and peers for the benefit of the students. Because the atmospheric chemistry community at Colorado State University spans several departments, these gatherings are also networking opportunities in addition to educational ones!

AAAR at the University of California Irvine (UCI)

Jackson Ryan, Chapter President

We began our quarter by kicking off our internal seminar series with some wonderful talks from a few of our graduate students here at UC Irvine. These seminars were an opportunity for some of our students to practice in front of their peers before undergoing their qualifying exams in front of a committee of their professors. The topics of these talks include the effects of mineral dust on SOA photochemistry, field measurements and model comparisons of water-soluble nitrogen and carbon, field and lab measurements of amines in brake wear dust particles, and photochemical cloud processing of water-soluble organic gases. 

Most recently, we had a social event that included an ugly Christmas sweater contest! In future quarters, we look forward to hosting a few internal panels as well as continuing our seminar series. We hope to have a panel dedicated to current postdocs interviewing for faculty positions on their experience.  Finally, we would like to invite some alumni back for another panel on their jobs in academia, government, and industry. We hope these opportunities will give our current students perspective to evaluate future career prospects in the exciting world of aerosol chemistry! 

AAAR at the University of California, Riverside

Erin Bowey, Chapter President

The UCR Student Chapter has been up to a lot lately! 

Several of our members attended and presented at the AAAR annual conference in October, in Buffalo, NY. It was an amazing experience and honor to show posters, to give talks on our work, and to learn about the research being done across nations and across subtopics in the aerosol world. Thank you to everyone in AAAR for your part in fostering such a wonderful community!

We also had the great pleasure of attending the special seminar from Dr. Sakiko Ishino during her visit to UCR from Kanazawa University. This talk on the processing and climate effects resulting from Southern polar emissions of marine volatile methylated sulfur species such as DMS featured collaboration with UCR’s own Dr. William Porter and use of the GEOS-CHem model. Our chapter really enjoys visits like these!

Finally, we have been meeting for our Journal Club and reading recent papers together. Getting to discuss interesting problems in our field and the work being done to answer them has been a great experience, especially doing so with so many knowledgeable peers of various perspectives! 

I’m so grateful for all the incredible scientists in the UCR AAAR student chapter!

Picture from a Journal Club meeting!

AAAR at Carnegie Mellon University

By Ziheng Zeng, Chapter President

This fall, our AAAR Student Chapter kicked off the semester with a welcome event where we introduced our plans for the year and gathered input from new and returning members. We are currently developing potential outreach events, including collaborations with the Pittsburgh Observatory and the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, which are still under discussion. We are also discussing launching a merch design competition to engage students creatively and build chapter identity. In addition, we hosted a guest seminar featuring Professor Nicholas Muller (CMU), who spoke on Wildland Fire Smoke and Vulnerable Communities in the United States. Students had the opportunity to join the speaker for an informal lunch, fostering deeper discussion and mentorship.

AAAR at the University of Miami

Amin Shirkhani, Student Chapter President

A quick update on University of Miami Student Chapter Activities (FY 24-25)

Fall 2024

• Meeting with professionals: Student chapter organized an event to have Dr. Chandra Venkataraman from the Indian Institute of Technology to share her extensive research on air quality. Her insights into aerosol science and the impacts of pollution provided alternative sustainable solutions to global environmental challenges.

• Mock AAAR Presentation Series: The mock presenstation series was an opportunity designed to help students prepare for their presentations at the upcoming AAAR 42nd Annual Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The first presenter was Amin Shirkhani, PhD candidate from Department of Chemical, Environmental, and Materials Engineering.

Spring 2025

• CAST Annual workshop: The student chapter was actively involved in hosting the CAST 3rd annual workshop from January 8-10, 2025. Over 80 participants from academia, industry, and government agencies attended the three-day event. The workshop included several fascinating lectures on topics like nanoparticle characterization, nanotechnology, biomass burning aerosols, and indoor air quality. A special highlight of the workshop was the hands-on demonstrations of advanced aerosol characterization techniques, showcasing cutting-edge instrumentation. The workshop also included a poster presentation session and panel discussions. Speakers this year included both well-known researchers from Purdue, University of Georgia, USEPA, Embry-Riddle, and Baylor University, and industry professionals from Netzch and Malvern Panalytical.

• Kappe Lecture series: The student chapter coordinated the efforts for hosting the 2025 AAEES Kappe Lecture series held at University of Miami on March 28th. The Lecture was given by Dr. Craig H. Benson, titled “Elevated Temperature Landfills: Causation, Impacts, and Best Management Practices Learned from the Field”. A poster session with topics of environmental engineering or science and networking lunch was organized during the event. More than 100 participants attended this lecture.