| Dr.
Judith Chow Receives AWMA’s Frank A. Chambers Award
The Air and Waste Management
Association (AWMA)—the world’s largest air quality association—has
presented its most prestigious scientific honor, the Frank A. Chambers
Award, to Dr. Judith Chow, a senior scientist in the Desert Research
Institute’s internationally recognized air quality research
program. Chow accepted the award in June at the AWMA Annual Conference
in Baltimore. She is the third DRI air quality scientist to be honored
with the Chambers award (the previous recipients were Dr. William
Pierson and Dr. John Watson), giving DRI the highest number for
any single research or academic organization.
A member of DRI’s
research faculty since 1985, Chow directs a worldwide program of
research at DRI focusing on the detection and analysis of extremely
small airborne particulates that affect human respiratory health
and impair scenic visibility. Shortly after joining DRI, Chow founded
the Institute’s Environmental Analysis Facility, where she
leads a team of scientists and technicians in designing and implementing
studies to quantify the state of air quality on local, regional,
national, and international scales.
Chow is a research professor
in DRI’s Division of Atmospheric Sciences and has been the
chief scientific investigator, or a major collaborator, on more
than 50 large air quality studies and many smaller projects, with
a total contract value exceeding $20 million. She joined DRI after
receiving her doctorate in Environmental Sciences from Harvard University.
DRI President Stephen
G. Wells says Chow’s research projects have been among the
most significant air quality studies in the United States and the
world, and her research results have been influential in national
and international decisions to implement prevention and mitigation
strategies. Especially prominent among the studies have been the
State of Nevada Air Pollution Study, two Denver Brown Cloud studies,
the Mexico City Particulate Study, and Chow’s ongoing particle
measurements in the California Regional PM10/PM2.5 Air Quality Study
and the Southern Nevada Air Quality Study.
Chow has developed and
applied methods to determine organic and light-absorbing carbon
(from vegetation and combustion sources) in U.S. national parks
to support improved visibility in these scenic areas. She was recently
awarded a five-year, $3.3 million contract from the National Park
Service’s IMPROVE program to continue work on this project,
which began in 1988.
Other sponsors of Chow’s
work include the U.S. Department of Energy, EPRI, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, the California Air Resources Board, the Hong
Kong Environmental Protection Division, Harvard University, and
Columbia University.
Chow has published more
than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and 50 book chapters in
the areas of aerosol measurement, chemical composition, and the
determination of pollutant sources through laboratory and field
analyses. Her more than 200 scientific presentations and training
courses have influenced scientists, regulators, and industry personnel
throughout the world.
Chow is currently a member
of the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council Committee
on Research Priorities for Airborne Particulate Matter. Formed at
the request of Congress, the committee is charged with identifying
the most important research priorities in setting particulate matter
standards, developing a conceptual plan for particulate matter research,
and monitoring research progress on the relationship between particulate
matter and public health.
Chow also has been called
upon to prepare and revise sections of the Environmental Protection
Agency’s air quality documents pertaining to chemical analyses
and pollutant source emissions. She has prepared EPA guidance materials
for aerosol measurement methods and developed sampling strategies
and databases for the agency’s guidance documents on network
design. The documents are intended for use by scientists and air
quality managers across the country.
–John Doherty
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