Opportunity Title:

Wildland Fire Exposure Modeling

Research Area:

Air

EPA Lab/Center/Office:

National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL)

Location:

Research Triangle Park, NC

Duration:

Up to 12 months

Brief Summary:

A need exists to accurately simulate the impacts of wildland fire to ambient ozone and particulate matter. These needs include retrospective regulatory assessments, human exposure studies and forecasting. EPA’s National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL)’s modeling system needs to be compared with special field study and routine surface measurements to identify priority areas of model development to improve wildland fire representation.

Opportunity Description:

This internship opportunity seeks an individual who is interested in exploring research wildfire science and atmospheric modeling.

As part of the research, the intern would:

a) collect routine and special field study air pollution and meteorological measurements impacted by specific wildland fires of interest, b) match the relevant ambient data with photochemical model output, and c) generate a manuscript identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the modeling system with respect to predicting ozone and particulate matter. Further, the opportunity may include the application of the photochemical model with alternative or perturbed inputs to quantify specific areas of uncertainty.

Opportunities for Professional Development:

The participant will increase knowledge in atmospheric science, wildland fire science (plume transport and chemistry), learn atmospheric numerical modeling, develop scientific writing skills, and journal publication.

Point of Contact or Mentor:

Sergey Napelenok (napelenok.sergey@epa.gov)