Mentor Search
Heather Holmes
( University of Nevada, Reno )
- Institution:University of Nevada, Reno
- Departments: Atmospheric Sciences Program, Physics
- Research Fields: Atmospheric Turbulence, Air Pollution, Source Apportionment, Numerical Weather Prediction, Chemical Transport Modeling, Land-Atmosphere Exchange, Human Health Impacts Of Air Pollution
- Disciplines: Atmospheric Physics and Dynamics, Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Physical Sciences, Physics
- Location:Washoe County
- Funding:EPA - Environmental Protection Agency
Mentoring
I have mentored undergraduate and graduate students on projects related to air quality and atmospheric physics, such projects include 1) understanding the impact of emissions from biomass burning stoves on lung function, 2) turbulence and vertical temperature profile measurements to investigate atmospheric boundary layer physics, 3) understanding the transport phenomena associated with wildfire smoke plumes using numerical models and satellite remote sensing.
Biography
Dr. Holmes is an Assistant Professor, Physics in the Nevada Advanced Autonomous Systems Innovation Center at the University of Nevada, Reno. Her PhD research focus was experimental investigations to study air pollution, turbulence, meteorology and chemistry in the atmospheric boundary layer. Following her PhD, two visiting researcher positions took her to Asia and Europe where she studied airborne pollen collection and wind energy. She completed her postdoctoral training at Georgia Tech as part of the Southeastern Center for Air Pollution and Epidemiology (SCAPE, www.scape.gatech.edu) working with engineers, atmospheric scientists and epidemiologists to characterize air pollution mixtures and their associated health effects. As part of SCAPE, her research focus was to analyze air pollution and air quality modeling data to better understand and quantify how emission sources combine to impact air quality and provide air quality metrics to epidemiologists for use in health assessments. Her current research interests incorporate numerical weather prediction and chemical transport modeling with field experiments to investigate pollutant accumulation, transport and mixing and provide data for health and public policy assessments.