The goal of the project is to develop new tools for measuring individual organic compounds of interest in the atmosphere in the gas and particle phase, with the goal of better understanding the variability and composition of natural and built environments. Target analytes include those of both human health interest (e.g., regulated hazardous air pollutants) and general air quality interest (e.g., emissions from vegetation). Technologies will rely on existing and novel gas chromatography technologies and related detectors.

The postdoctoral associate will be responsible for designing and executing experiments to sample and analyze organic gases, including designing and operating sampling testbeds, generating gas and liquid mass calibration standards, operating commercially available gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC/MS) instruments, and analyzing GC/MS data. The successful applicant will work alongside students and postdocs developing new instrumentation based on GC/MS technologies, advising on intercomparison and validation strategies, and collecting and analyzing samples for the evaluation of new instrumentation. In addition, the successful applicant will be responsible for developing and executing standard operating procedures for the collection of samples on passive and active sorbent traps, their thermal and/or chemical extraction, and analysis and calibration. Duties may include sample design, collection, and analysis from local outdoor environments, indoor environments, and laboratory experiments for evaporation from materials of interest. The successful applicant will be provided opportunities for mentoring students through hands-on training and will have opportunities to contribute to related research projects.

The postdoctoral associate will work with Dr. Gabriel Isaacman-VanWertz and Dr. Linsey Marr in person, on campus in Blacksburg, Virginia.