CHEE Seminar: Ricardo Morales Betancourt

ABSTRACT
The processes shaping air pollution span many spatial scales. In the large and densely populated cities of Latin America, one of the most rapidly urbanizing areas in the world, day-to-day exposure to particulate pollution is often dominated by mobile sources in the near-road environment. However, the seasonality of air pollution in the region is controlled by the medium and long-range transport of smoke plumes from wildfires and agricultural burns. In this talk, Dr. Betancourt will discuss how, by using modeling and observational tools, we can better understand the nature of air pollution in the region, identify its more pressing challenges, and characterize the rapid transformations it is currently undergoing.

BIOSKETCH
Ricardo Morales is an associate professor at the Environmental Engineering Department of Los Andes University, in Bogotá, Colombia. After graduating with a BS in Physics (2006) and in Chem. Eng. (2007) from Los Andes University, he completed his Ph.D. on Atmospheric Science from Georgia Tech (2013). Since then, his research at Los Andes University has used modeling and observational tools to better understand the sources and impacts of atmospheric aerosol in the northern portion of South America, and in the city of Bogotá, in particular. During the fall of 2022, he is a visiting research scholar at NCSU supported by a Fulbright Visiting Scholar grant.