Congratulations to the 2025 College of Natural Sciences Professor Laureate Award recipients!

When: Monday, April 21st from 4-6 p.m.
Lecture by Chemistry Professor Delphine Farmer at 4 p.m. with a reception to follow.
No RSVP is needed.

Where: LSC University Ballroom
Hybrid attendance will be available

Lecture details:
Title: The Air We Breathe: From molecular villains to air quality heroes in the indoor environment
by Department of Chemistry Professor Delphine Farmer

Summary: We spend 90% of our time indoors, yet most research into air pollution and atmospheric chemistry has focused on the outdoor environment. Indoor air is far more complex than outdoor air, has great potential to chemically transform, and dominates our exposure to numerous pollutants. In this talk, I will describe our work from indoor field studies, including the House Observations of Microbial and Environmental Chemistry (HOMEChem) and the Chemical Assessment of Surfaces and Air (CASA), to investigate the processes controlling the quality of indoor air. We will track several villains of atmospheric chemistry – ozone, wildfire smoke, and emissions from cooking and cleaning – in order to think about not only the processes controlling the air we breathe but also what evidence-based approaches will improve indoor air. Finally, I will highlight how indoor air can impact outdoor air using observations from our recent studies in the New York City region.