ASRC Spotlight

Arshad Nair

Expected PhD completion date: May 2021
Advised by Dr. Fangqun Yu

Research focus: Aerosol microphysics, air quality, machine learning/artificial intelligence (ML/AI), and global modeling

Dissertation title: “The Role of Ammonia in Atmospheric New Particle Formation and Implications for Aerosol Indirect Radiative Forcing”

What influenced you to study atmospheric sciences? Although trained as a physicist, all sciences and their interdisciplinary spaces have excited me. As an atmospheric scientist, I can unravel physicochemical processes in the atmosphere with the aid of mathematics and computer science, explore interactions with the biosphere (including human health), and further our understanding of climate change: the gravest and most immediate moral and societal challenge humanity faces.

What do you hope to accomplish in terms of research goals? Our efforts to reduce the uncertainties in climate change prediction, largest of which arise from aerosol–cloud interactions, are where I see myself contributing the most. I am also hopeful that my research will have immediate implications for improving human and ecosystem health and informing the public and policymakers. Towards these goals, I hope to continue working in an interdisciplinary space and synergistically employing observations ⟷ AI ⟷ modeling.

Who do you aspire to be in the ATM scientific community? I aspire to be an academic scientist, collaborating with and mentoring people, working towards an improved understanding of and tackling a shared concern in climate change and its impacts on life.

ASRC In The News

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  ASRC Falconer Series Goes Virtual for First Time in 60 Years

  UAlbany’s longest-running public science lecture series will continue this semester – just in a different format. The ASRC Falconer Lecture Series, which launched in 1962, features academics and practitioners who are engaged in societally interesting and beneficial projects of our day. It is usually offered twice a year, a spring version on the Uptown Campus and a summer version 5,000 feet above sea level at the Whiteface Mountain Field Station.
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  Atmospheric Scientists Discuss the Texas Power Crisis

  An unusual blast of winter weather in Texas caused mass power outages, home damage and food shortages. More than 4.3 million people were left in the dark without heat (some for several days) as state leaders scrambled to fix the electrical grid failures. UAlbany is home to the largest concentration of atmospheric, climate and environmental researchers. They discuss the Texas power crisis.
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  UAlbany harnessing artificial intelligence for winter storm forecasts

  A group of researchers at the University at Albany would like New Yorkers to think of winter snow storms when they hear the term AI. The school’s Atmospheric Sciences Research Center just received a $2.4 million, five-year National Science Foundation grant to explore and develop ways that AI can better track and predict winter storms.
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  Researchers at UAlbany using AI to improve winter weather forecasts

  Researchers at the University at Albany are using artificial intelligence to improve our understanding of winter weather. They're part of a new institute set up by the National Science Foundation.
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  ASRC Researchers to Develop AI Solutions for Winter Weather at New $20 Million Institute

  UAlbany will focus on winter weather at NSF's new Institute for Research on Trustworthy AI in Weather, Climate and Coastal Oceanography.
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  ASRC Researchers Explore New York’s 100 Percent Renewables Goal

  An assessment on what it will take for New York to reach the renewable energy goals in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act!
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  NYS Mesonet Launches Official Mobile App

  In partnership with the University’s xCITE (ExTREME Collaboration, Innovation, & TEchnology) laboratory, the New York State Mesonet has released an official mobile application – available for download in Apple and Google Play stores.
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  A Look Inside the xCITE Laboratory

  “There’s a gap between collecting research data and being able to visualize and communicate it with a broad audience,” said Sulia, a meteorology PhD and ASRC researcher who directs the xCITE Lab. “Our lab bridges this gap by manipulating the data to make it easier to understand.”
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  Whiteface is peak of cloud study: Grant will support research over the next five years

  Sara Lance, a research associate at the state University at Albany’s Atmospheric Sciences Research Center at Whiteface, has been awarded the prestigious Faculty Early Career Development award from the NSF.
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  Study: Decreasing Wildfires Observed Over Central Africa

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  Atmospheric Scientist Honored by the AMS

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  Atmospheric Scientist Virtually Inspires Next Generation of STEM Leaders