Dr. Gregory Rowangould Receives Early Career Award from EPA

February 4, 2016

gregory rowangouldDr. Gregory Rowangould has received a prestigious Early Career award from the EPA which is a 3 year grant providing $335,605.

Synopsis of Program (from US EPA): 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as part of its Science to Achieve Results 

(STAR) program, is seeking applications proposing research on understanding particulate matter and related atmospheric pollutants in a changing world. Specifically, research is sought on the changing spatiotemporal patterns or environmental impacts of particulate matter in the United States, the challenges that various aspects of global change pose for the management of particulate matter and related pollutants, the rates and timescales at which global change can impact United States air quality, and stronger linkages between the modeling of atmospheric processes and other environmental processes. In order to understand and adapt to future changes, environmental planners and decision makers need information on the challenge global change presents for protecting the environment and human health; this solicitation seeks research on these challenges. 

Short description of the project:

This project aims to understand how different combinations of land-use and transportation strategies affect exposure to toxic vehicle emissions. Land-use strategies such as “smart growth”, infill development, and denser urban development are being used to reduce passenger vehicle use and therefore greenhouse gas emissions. However, these same strategies can also have the unintended consequence of increasing the population’s exposure to toxic vehicle emissions. This project will identify situations that may result in unintended exposures and then develop strategies that maximize both greenhouse gas emission reductions and exposure to toxic vehicle emissions. An integrated land-use, transportation, vehicle emission and exposure modeling framework developed by the research team will be used to carry out the research using Albuquerque, NM and Atlanta, GA as case studies.