Air Quality

Fellow

Sanjana Paul

2024 Fellow
Sanjana is an engineer and environmental educator whose research focuses on process innovation and technical/policy boundaries of renewable energy systems and the electric grid.
Fellow Story

Torres authors guide for centering environmental justice, health and equity in CEQA

The environmental justice chapter in the Air District’s 2022 CEQA Guidelines – the first of its kind to be published in California – recognizes the policy imperative to help address long-standing and emerging inequities in the siting, design and development of potential sources of pollution.
September 28, 2023
Fellow Story

David Gonzalez: uncovering the health effects of wildfire smoke

“Wildfires are a special flavor of pollution that we don't totally understand,” David says. “We don’t understand its chemistry, health effects, or how it’s different from urban air pollution. I didn’t realize there was such a gap in that knowledge when I started. The more I dove into it, the more I was motivated to fill that gap.”
September 27, 2023
Fellow Story

Clark argues in legal victory against Bay Area biofuel refinery

Ben Clark argued the winning case against a proposed Marathon-Tesoro refinery in Martinez, CA, as a certified student attorney with the Stanford Environmental Law Clinic.
August 22, 2023
Fellow Story

Danger in the dust! Gill shares the hazards of windblown dust

Risks associated with dust hazards are often underappreciated, which can be costly for impacted communities. This study reviews the sources and chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of dust and its effects on humans and the environmental in the Americas.
July 26, 2023
Leadership Grant Grant

Resilient Roots Project: Centering Youth Climate Change Stories

This collaboration between Catalina Garzón-Galvis, StoryCenter and Frontline Catalysts will center the lived experiences, local knowledge, and innovation of migrant and first-generation youth in advancing solutions that strengthen community resilience to climate change.
July 18, 2023
Fellow

Daniel Gonzalez

2023 Fellow
Daniel studies aerosol behavior and its impact on air quality. His journey as a first-generation student has shaped his determination to drive positive change for the environment and disadvantaged communities.
Fellow Story

Hsu speaks on particulate air pollution on PBS Energy Switch

Angel Hsu was a guest on PBS Energy Switch’s episode, Environmental Impacts of Energy on Air, looking at air pollution from energy and how we could reduce it. “Particulate matter pollution is the fourth leading risk factor for death...
June 21, 2023
Fellow Story

Cushing finds historical redlining associated with power plant siting and pollution inequalities

Lara Cushing is the lead author of a December 2022 study finding that historical red-lining is associated with fossil fuel power plant siting and present-day inequalities in air pollutant emissions. Read the open-access article in Nature Energy and a summary in Axios.
January 26, 2023
Fellow Story

Sarah Smith testifies before congress on cutting methane pollution

On June 24, 2022, Sarah Uhl Smith testified before Congress in a hearing to review community perspectives on the public health, climate, jobs, and economic benefits of cutting methane pollution from oil and gas infrastructure. Sarah is Chief of Programs at the Clean Air Task Force (CATF). A member of CATF's senior leadership team, she led the growth of the organization’s methane emissions reduction program, building up a small team into a substantial global operation on four continents.
July 27, 2022