Atmospheric Chemistry Group

        The goals of the Gao research group are to understand the processes affecting the global atmospheric composition and its impact on climate change, biogeochemical cycles, and the quality of the human environment. Their research has spanned many regions, from the Asian coast to the US East Coast, and from the Arctic to the Southern Ocean and Antarctica. They conduct field measurements, laboratory experiments, and numerical modeling to characterize the properties of atmospheric substances, particularly atmospheric aerosols, toward a better understanding of the land-atmosphere-ocean-ice interactions. Current research in the Gao lab focuses on the near and far, from characterizing urban air particles and potential impact on human health around the metropolitan area (New York City and Newark in New Jersey) to studying the atmospheric dust particles and aeolian iron deposition to the Arctic Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Antarctica.