Elizabeth E. Dahl, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemistry at Loyola University Maryland, has received a $186,806 grant from the National Science Foundation in support of her project, “RUI: Biological production of oceanic alkyl nitrates.”
The three-year grant will assist Dahl’s efforts to discover the extent to which phytoplankton produce alkyl nitrates, which are known to affect ozone concentrations in the lower atmosphere.
“Ozone in the lower atmosphere acts as a greenhouse gas and is the main component of photochemical smog,” said Dahl, a graduate of the University of Miami who holds a Ph.D. in Earth System Science from the University of California, Irvine. “Understanding how alkyl nitrates are formed in the oceans will allow us to better understand how the oceans affect ozone concentrations in the lower atmosphere.”
The grant includes funding for the training and participation of undergraduate students through Loyola’s Hauber Fellowship program, which provides a stipend and housing to undergraduates pursuing independent summer research under the supervision of a faculty member. The students working with Dahl will learn culturing techniques as well as how to operate a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer.
For more information or questions regarding this story, contact Media Relations Manager Nick Alexopulos at nalexopulos@loyola.edu or 410-617-5025.