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Centre for Atmospheric Science

I am a PhD student in atmospheric chemistry, supervised by Alex Archibald and Markus Kalberer, as part of the Cambridge Earth System Science NERC DTP (started in October 2015).



I am hoping to explore ways of identifying where the principal sources of uncertainty in our understanding of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation lie. It is important to improve our understanding of aerosol, as it is known to have detrimental health effects, but also represents a major uncertainty in predicting the magnitude of global warming over the coming decades. The SOA particles form as a result of the oxidation of organic species, such as alpha-pinene (a monoterpene emitted by plants), in the atmosphere. The reaction-by-reaction chemistry of this process is very complex. Additionally, it varies based on which of the many possible precursors we are considering (for example beta-pinene, an isomer of alpha-pinene with its double bond in a different place, shows different reactivity), as well as the oxidation conditions (which depend on day time and location). Further complexity is introduced when we consider the physical processes involved in the condensation of the oxidised gaseous species. I use machine learning algorithms to try to predict the rate of the chemical steps in the hope of improving our models.


Teaching


Since 2015, I have been supervising students following the first year chemistry course (Part IA Natural Sciences) which covers the basics of a wide range of university-level chemistry every year. I have also previously been demonstrating in labs for the same course, as well as the Part II Theoretical Chemistry practicals. Over the last few years, I have also supervised Part II A6 (a catch-up course covering quantum chemistry and symmetry concepts) and Part II B4 (Chemistry in the atmosphere, covering the basics of both stratospheric and tropospheric chemistry).


I am an associate fellow of the higher education academy (AFHEA).

Centre Highlights

• January 2024: The CCPG have successfully submitted a proposal for PACESETTERS!

• September 2nd 2023: Dr Annela Anger-Kraavi has co-authored a paper analysing just transition narratives in European coal regions. Read the paper here

• December 13th 2022: The CCPG have co-authored a paper on game-changing innovations towards net-zero, published in Energy Strategy Reviews. Read the open access paper here.

• November 15th 2022: The final conference of PARIS REINFORCE is taking place today in Sorbonne. Read more about the event here

• October 24th 2022: The CCPG have successfully submitted a proposal for the Cambridge-Tsinghua joint research initiative! 

• May 5th 2022: We've submitted to the UNFCCC's Global Stocktake (GST). More information is available on our news page. 

• March 23rd 2022: Multiple CAS academics have published a paper investigating the future role of anthropogenic methane emissions. Read the open access paper here.

• Feb 18th 2022: Dr Parris and Dr Anger-Kraavi have co-authored a paper that develops a tool to support co-designed transformative change. Read the open access paper here.

• Dec 16th 2021: Dr Parris has co-authored a paper that introduces a tool to support plastic pollution policy. Read the open access paper here.

• Nov 22nd 2021: Dr Anger-Kraavi has co-authored a paper with Paris Reinforce. Read the open access version here


Want to know more about our high-profile publications? Check out our Publication Highlights!


 

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