Dr Michelle Cain

I am a research associate in Professor John Pyle's group in the Centre for Atmospheric Science, and co-ordinator for the Cambridge Centre for Climate Science (CCfCS). For 18 months until November 2013 I was also a NERC policy placement fellow, advising Defra on air quality modelling. 

I use computer models (pTOMCAT, a global 3D chemical transport model; NAME, a Lagrangian particle dispersion model; and CiTTyCAT, a Lagrangian photochemical model) combined with field observations to study atmospheric composition, processing and transport.

Research Interests

• The quantification of different processes acting on the composition of an air mass during its transport
• Using measurements in combination with models to improve our understanding of atmospheric composition 
• How to represent small-scale processes (e.g. chemistry) in a global model
• How to represent mixing in a Lagrangian model
• The quantification of the magnitude and variability of methane emissions in the Arctic
• The role of nighttime chemistry in relation to daytime chemistry, and the roles of gas-phase and heterogeneous chemistry at night.

Projects I work on/have worked on:

• MAMM: Methane and other greenhouse gases in the Arctic – Measurements, process studies and Modelling.
• RONOCO: the Role Of Nighttime chemistry in controlling the Oxidising Capacity of the atmOsphere
• AMMA: African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses
• ITCT-2k4: Intercontinental Transport and Chemical Transformation 2004.

I am also interested in science communication and am the knowledge exchange representative for the MAMM project. Follow our activities on the MAMM project blog: http://arcticmethane.wordpress.com. 

I enjoy getting involed in all kinds of science communication activities, from open days with hands on activities to shcools lectures to writing articles and blogs for a more general audience. Here is a selection of some of the activities I've worked on:

• Manage and write for the MAMM project blog. These articles were also syndicated to the Scientific American Expeditions blog; direct links to my posts appearing there are below (they can also be found on the project blog):

Arctic methane: What’s the story? (13 August 2013)

My flight logs: 1, 2, 3.

• Organised "The Arctic Science Experience" interactive event at the Cambridge Science Festival 2014. 
• Featured on the Barometer podcast, discussing the modelling aspect of the MAMM project. (14 August 2013)
• Featured on an episode of the Naked Scientists podcast, entitled Sampling the Atmosphere and Tracking Pollution - the RONOCO Campaign. (20 February 2011)
• Organised Atmospheric Science display stand and demonstrations for the Cambridge Science Festival Chemistry Department open day in 2012 and 2013.
• Contributions to the EGU blog, GeoLog:

Tag – you’re it! Chasing atmospheric tracers (22 March 2013)

Stock market crash hits EGU General Assembly shocker! (2 May 2012)

Megacities at EGU2012 (26 April 2012)

• Featured on the Kung Fu Science web site, including videos discussing and demonstrating the physics behind breaking boards. Also featured in a 4 minute piece with BBC 1 for The One Show, which was broadcast on 18 February 2009.  
• Given schools lectures on air quality and climate change, and the physics of kung fu.

Find me on twitter @civiltalker, and sporadically on my personal blog and my Experiments of a culinary chemist blog.

CV

2012-2013: NERC policy placement fellow at Defra. 

2009-present: PDRA at University of Cambridge.

2005-2009: University of Reading, PhD in Meteorology. Supervised by Dr John Methven and Dr Eleanor Highwood.

2002-2005: Communications officer at the Institute of Physics. 

1998-2002: University College London, MSci in Astrophysics, first class honours