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Background and Expertise

About

The southeastern United States was one of a handful of locations worldwide that did not experience warming trends during the 20th century. Why? It could have something to do with small aerosols (or particles) created by interactions of pollutants from power plants and other combustion sources with  tree emissions from the dense forests in this area. These particles, which give rise to the “blue haze” in the southern Appalachian mountain region, reflect sunlight back into space and can cool the earth’s surface.

Appalachian State University’s Dr. James Sherman is currently researching how these aerosols are making an impact on climate change and regional air quality, and the southern Appalachian mountains are considered one of the best areas for this work. He conducts much of his work at Appalachian’s AppalAIR research station on campus, one of only two co-located  NOAA and NASA aerosol monitoring network sites in the U.S.

Areas of expertise

  • Measurements of air quality
  • Climate change
  • Laser and optical instrumentation for environmental and defense applications

Education/Academic qualification

Atmospheric Physics, Ph.D., Colorado State University

… → 2002

Optical Engineering, M.S., Institute of Optics- University of Rochester

… → 1997

Physics, B.S., Iowa State University

… → 1994

Research Interests

  • Measurements of air quality
  • Climate Change
  • Laser and optical instrumentation for environmental and defense applications

Disciplines

  • Astrophysics and Astronomy
  • Physics