Students who were part of the 2022 SaSa program had the opportunity "to receive professional development training including scientific abstract writing, comprehensive literature review, networking and professional presentations (oral and poster)." On Friday, July 29, 2022, interns with the first year of SaSa presented in-person and virtual three-minute flash talks on their posters related to the science they conducted over the summer. Research locations included Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania, northern California, Puerto Rico, and others. Students shared the motivation for their research topics, the methodology, which included the use of the NASA P-3 aircraft, various NASA satellites and studies (e.g., MODIS, MERRA, OMI aboard TRMM and GPM, etc.), federal websites (e.g., EPA, CDC, and the US Census Bureau for population data), and next steps, plus the relevance of each study to NASA. Topics ranged from algal blooms' effect on ozone, heat islands, lead in water, contrails, and other topics related to climate, ozone, air quality, storms, and more. Additional information about SaSa is available here. Congratulations to the students who presented and participated in this year's program. (Photo: Dr. Belay Demoz (UMBC), SaSa Co-PI with Dr. Ruben Delgado (UMBC).)
Presentations, Participants, UMBC Mentors, and Advisors:
"Analysis of Mid-Atlantic Particulate Matter and Its Association to Lung Cancer Risks", Annalyse Belton (Coppin State Univ.), Tochi Iwuji (Coppin State Univ.), Ruben Delgado (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County), and Maurice Roots (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County)
"Hawaiian and Maryland Infrastructure Damage due to Decreasing Reef Protection from Large tropical storm waves", Shanell Bush (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County), David Moore (Univ. of CA, Los Angeles), and Alicia Hoffman (Univ. of WI, Madison)
"Integrated Aerosol Monitoring System of Long-Range Transport Pollutants and Local Pollution Events", Romina Cano Velasquez (Miami-Dade College), Emily Faber (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County), Ruben Delgado (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County), Kylie Hoffman (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County), and Richard Moore (NASA Langley)
"Analysis of Heavy Metals in Rainwater & Streams Around the Chesapeake Bay Area", Muyang Chunga (Coppin State Univ.), Maurice Roots (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County), Mintesinot Jiru (Coppin State Univ.), and Ruben Delgado (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County)
"The Role of Precipitation in Depositing Biomass Burning Pollutants into the Chesapeake Bay", Neima Dedefo (Univ. of MD, Eastern Shore), Alicia Hoffman (Univ. of WI, Madison), Richard Moore (NASA Langley), Edward Winstead (NASA Langley), and Luke Ziemba (NASA Langley)
"Can Machine Learning Find a Correlation between Air Pollution and Water Quality?" Isaiah Dornelus (Morgan State Univ.), Alicia Hoffman (Univ. of WI, Madison), and Ruben Delgado (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County)
"Analysis of Aerosol Loading in the Baltimore-Washington Corridor using Ground, Profile, and Aircraft Datasets", Eric Ekey (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County), Maurice Roots (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County), and Ruben Delgado (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County)
"Quality with Quantity: Analyzing Purple Air Sensors' Detection of PM 2.5", Trisha Joy Francisco (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County), Kylie Hoffman (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County), Alicia Hoffman (Univ. of WI, Madison), and Emily Faber (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County)
"The Impact of Climate Change and City Design on Pollen Emissions and Human Health in the City of Davis, CA", Michelle Garcia (Univ. of CA, Davis) and Alicia Hoffman (Univ. of WI, Madison)
"Understanding the Factors Contributing to Contrail Genesis to Predict Areas Suitable for Formation", David Goba (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County), Maurice Roots (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County), Richard Moore (NASA Langley), and Lin Chambers (NASA Langley)
"Impacts of Low-Level Jets on Surface Temperature", Jonathan Hale (Univ. of CA, Davis), Kylie Hoffman (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County), and Ruben Delgado (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County)
"Analyzing the Evolution and Pollution Transport of the Mid-Atlantic Low-Level Jets", Daniel Harrison (Morgan State Univ.), Jonathan Hale (Univ. of CA, Davis), Maurice Roots (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County), Ruben Delgado (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County), and Belay Demoz (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County)
"Effect of NOx in the Air on Algae in the Chesapeake Bay", Camila Hernandez Pedraza (Univ. of Puerto Rico, Cayey), Alicia Hoffman (Univ. of WI, Madison), Richard Moore (NASA Langley), Mariel Friberg (Univ. of MD, College Park), and Ruben Delgado (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County)
"NOx vs. VOCs: Contributions to Ozone Production in Riverside, California and Mitigation Strategies", Vanessa Hua (Univ. of CA, Riverside), Emily Faber (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County), and Alicia Hoffman (Univ. of WI, Madison)
"Assessing the Impact of Contrails on Surface Temperature across the United States", Kailyn Hyman (Hampton Univ.), David Moore (Univ. of CA, Los Angeles), Lin Chambers (NASA Langley), and Richard Moore (NASA Langley)
"Understanding the Trends of Atmospheric Sulfates and Nitrates Among Demographic Regions", Tochi Iwuji (Coppin State Univ.), Annalyse Belton (Coppin State Univ.), Ruben Delgado (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County), and Maurice Roots (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County)
"Analysis of Saharan Dust Storm Event in 2020 & Atlantic Hurricane Intensity", Daniel Khan (Univ. of CA, Riverside), David Moore (Univ. of CA, Los Angeles), and Emily Faber (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County)
"Firework Emissions effects on Air Quality: Suburban vs. Urban Area", Mya Johnson (Univ. of MD, Eastern Shore) and Ruben Delgado (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County)
"Does the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation Influence the Annual Precipitation in Puerto Rico?" Stephanie Ortiz Rosario (Univ. of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez), Kylie Hoffman (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County), and John Anderson (Hampton Univ.)
"Synergistic Measurements of Vegetation and PM2.5 to Observe the Heat Island Effect in Los Angeles Area", Sophia Ramirez (Cal. State Polytech. Inst., Pomona), Emily Faber (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County), Alicia Hoffman (Univ. of WI, Madison), and Mariel Friberg (Univ. of MD, College Park)
"Monitoring the Depletion and Recovery of Column Ozone from 2005-2022 and the Effects of COVID-19 Lockdowns Worldwide", Angelica Stewart (Howard Univ.), Emily Faber (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County), Maurice Roots (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County), John Anderson (Hampton Univ.), Joseph Wilkins (Howard Univ.), and Alicia Hoffman (Univ. of WI, Madison)
"Effects of halocarbons on tropospheric ozone concentration in the Long Island Sound area", Ananda Turner (Hampton Univ.) and Alicia Hoffman (Univ. of WI, Madison)
"Summer Air Quality Index Prediction with Machine Learning Model Classifiers", Kennedi White (Howard Univ.), Dr. Joseph Wilkins (Howard Univ.), Kylie Hoffman (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County), and Maurice Roots (Univ. of MD, Baltimore County).