School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
I am a research associate in the
Atmospheric Chemistry Modeling Group at Harvard.
The overarching goal of my research is to understand how short-lived
chemical species in the atmosphere -- mainly tropospheric ozone and aerosol
-- interact with climate.
For example, I study how 21st-century climate change
could affect the intensity of smog episodes.
I examine how projected changes
in aerosol concentrations could either amplify or diminish the warming
due to the long-lived greenhouse gases.
To investigate these and related issues, I use global models of the atmosphere
together with observations from the recent or distant past.
In the troposphere, ozone is produced in the complex mix of gases
emitted by both human activity and natural processes.
At high concentrations, ozone damages human health and vegetation.
Ozone is also a greenhouse gas and contributes to climate change.
Tropospheric aerosol is composed of a large range of materials, including
sulfate, soot, and organic matter.
Like ozone, aerosol is harmful to human health.
Through scattering and absorption of incoming sunlight as well as its
effects on clouds, aerosol has a large and complex role on climate.
Climate change, in turn, can have a significant impact on the
production and loss rates of both ozone and aerosol, as well as their
transport through the atmosphere.
For more information see my
Current and
Past
research pages and my
Publications.
I currently mentor these students
at Harvard:
Eric Leibensperger,
Lee Murray,
Amos P.K. Tai,
and Moeko Yoshitomi.
Past students include
Shiliang Wu (now assistant professor at Michigan Tech)
and Julie Sygiel (summer intern).
I work closely with
Daniel Jacob,
Jennifer Logan, and in recent years,
Harvard alumni
Rynda Hudman and
Dominick Spracklen.
These collaborators and others around the planet have enriched my work life.
See also my Curriculum vitae.
109A Pierce Hall, Harvard University
29 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
phone: 617-496-5635
fax: 617-495-9837
mickley at fas dot harvard dot edu
ljm at io dot harvard dot edu
