McNeill Wins CAREER Award

V. Faye McNeill, assistant professor of chemical engineering, has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award to research a deeper understanding of the influence of ice and snow on atmospheric composition and climate.

 

"Ice in the environment, in the form of ice particles in clouds, or sea ice and snow at the Earth's surface, has a profound influence on atmospheric composition and climate," says McNeill, "A quantitative physical understanding of trace gas-ice interactions is critical for predicting the effects of climate change on atmospheric composition, for the interpretation of ice core chemical records, and for modeling atmospheric chemistry."

 

The CAREER Program is NSF's most prestigious award in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research. McNeill's proposal, "The Atmospheric Chemistry of Ice and Snow," will be funded for five years.

 

Her plan is to address a major challenge in atmospheric chemistry: understanding and quantifying the interactions of ice and snow with trace gases.

 

"There are significant gaps in our current understanding of the uptake of gases by ice, including uncertainty regarding the microphysical location of adsorbed species and the potential role of a quasi-liquid or quasi-brine layer at the ice surface," says McNeill. "The McNeill Group will apply a set of powerful, complementary experimental and modeling approaches in order to gain new chemical and physical insight into these gas-ice interactions in the environment and their effects on atmospheric composition."