Most chemists look for a high-class lab to conduct experiments in, but not Julie Fry, Reed’s roving environmental chemist. She takes a more DIY approach, setting up her camp (and a lab of sorts) wherever her research program takes her. This past summer that zest for measurement led her and her assistants, Danielle Draper ’13 and Kyle Zarzana, to set up shop high in the Rocky Mountains (elev. 8465 feet) where they dodged daily afternoon thunderstorm and lightning strikes, swatted mosquitoes, and trapped tiny bits of sticky stuff called “aerosols.”
If you are interested in learning more about Julie’s brand of ‘outdoor’ chemistry, visit her research web page. Julie has just posted a photo montage of last summer’s field campaign, BEACHON-RoMBAS 2011, and slides of her presentation summarizing her team’s measurements on the role of organic nitrates in secondary aerosol formation. (Most Reedies will not be mystified by the flag that Julie is holding in one photo, but do you realize how it connects with her research program?)
Julie is currently on sabbatical at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science (NOAA-CIRES) in Boulder, Colorado.