Air pollutant research has global reach
ssociate Professor Jamie Schauer’s
research on air pollutants is at the forefront of national and international
efforts to assess air quality and its impact on everyday life. Schauer,
with a background in both chemical and environmental engineering, conducts
analyses that measure air pollutants and their chemical properties and
reactions. His research efforts stretch from Devil’s Lake in central
Wisconsin to China and the Middle East.
“My research covers
a broad spectrum,” Schauer said from his office near Memorial
Union, overlooking Lake Mendota, “ranging from climate changes
to impacts on human health. We measure the chemical composition of air
pollutants to see where it comes from and to assess their impact.”
Schauer’s work has won him national recognition.
Two years ago, he was named the Walter A. Rosenblith Young Investigator
of the Year by the Boston-based Health Effects Institute, which studies
the impact of air pollution. The award financed some of Schauer’s
continuing work on air quality.
Schauer stresses that his research focuses on the
front end of air pollution—what it’s comprised of, how it’s
disseminated, and its impact on both humans and the environment. The
goal of the research is to gain an understanding of air pollutants so
that public policy makers can make better-informed judgments about air
quality issues. His work meshes with air quality standards promulgated
by agencies such as the federal Environmental Protection Agency and
the state DNR.
For instance, the EPA in 1997 issued new standards
regarding particulate matter in the air. Schauer’s research has
led to a better understanding of how particulate matters contribute
to air pollution not only in urban areas such as Milwaukee and St. Louis,
but also areas such as Wisconsin’s Devil’s Lake State Park
and Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and Montana.
Schauer’s work is particularly relevant for
Wisconsin, as the state must develop strategies to meet new EPA regulations
for fine particulate matter in metropolitan areas including Milwaukee.
The EPA requires state and local governments to achieve air quality
standards for microscopic soot that is emitted from power plants, vehicles
and other sources of air pollution.
Part of the difficulty in assessing local air quality
is determining the sources of air pollution, since air pollutants can
travel great distances before impacting an area. So Schauer and his
team of researchers spend months or even years at a given site, assessing
air pollutants over a long period of time to determine their origin.
“A key question is what fraction of the pollution
is from local sources and what fraction is associated with regional
sources—our methods help identify these sources,” he said.
“Good public policy relies on understanding what emissions reductions
are possible to improve air quality.”
