Isabella Dressel will continue studying the atmosphere, but now she will research it from England as a Churchill Scholar.
Dressel is a fourth-year at the University of Virginia with a self-designed interdisciplinary major in atmospheric and environmental science, chemistry and physics. She will pursue a master’s degree in chemistry next year at Churchill College, Cambridge, under the supervision of Alex Archibald, a professor in atmospheric chemistry modeling at the University of Cambridge.
“I plan to study interactions between biomass burning aerosols and climate in the North Atlantic region using airborne observations, satellite-derived emissions estimates and model simulations,” Dressel said.
Her scholarship in the U.K. will build on work she started at UVA.
“Since my first year, I have done research with Professor Sally Pusede [an atmospheric chemist], using daily satellite observations to study relationships between urban air pollution inequalities, air quality and meteorology,” Dressel said. “Last summer, I interned at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. … Spending a summer focused on a new topic showed me that I would benefit from exploring research more before starting a Ph.D. program.”
