Kim Prather

Kim focuses on developing and conducting measurements for aerosol chemistry. When asked about her motivation, she said: “Making a difference for our planet. Our research on aerosol impacts on clouds can help explain why we are seeing a sudden increase in weather-related disasters.” She once discovered that dust from 12,000 miles away in Africa (and ocean microbes) affects snowfall over California – her most rewarding moment. “I am very interested in how Mother Nature controls the climate. Our overall goal is to help better understand how clouds form so that we can make effective solutions to address climate change – considered by many to be the largest environmental challenge in our lifetime.”

She also spoke about the role of mass spectrometry in the future of climate change and atmospheric chemistry in identifying the chemical species in the atmosphere – an elusive goal. “The game-change technology will be on-line mass spectrometers with the necessary sensitivity and selectivity to identify more species that are playing a critical role in affecting human health and our climate. An even loftier advance would be to identify the chemical species on the surfaces of aerosol particles, which ultimately play a critical role in controlling clouds and the heterogeneous reactions that occur in the atmosphere.”