Events Calendar

The Texas Air Quality Studies: State of teh Science of air quality in Texas and implications for air qualilty policy

Speaker: David Allen , Gertz Regents Professor and Director, Center for Energy and Environmental Resources. University of Texas

Talk Title: Engineering for the 21st Century

Abstract: The Texas Air Quality Studies (TexAQS I and II), conducted in the summers of 2000 and 2006 were the largest air quality field studies ever undertaken in Texas. During August and September of 2000 and 2006, approximately 300 air quality investigators from around the world converged on the eastern half of Texas. Multiple aircraft and a large research vessel were deployed; multiple ground sites were established for collecting meteorological and chemical data.

This presentation, by one of the lead investigators for the Texas Air Quality Studies, will provide an overview of the studies and will discuss, in more detail, both the overall policy implications of the studies and the enhanced understanding of urban atmospheric chemistry that emerged from the studies. Specifically, the role of routine and episodic emissions of highly reactive volatile organic compounds (HRVOCs) will be discussed, and the emission cap and trade program developed to limit the emissions of HRVOCs will be described.



Biography: Dr. David Allen is the Gertz Regents Professor of Chemical Engineering, and the Director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Resources at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of six books and over 200 papers in areas ranging from coal liquefaction and heavy oil chemistry to the chemistry of urban atmospheres. For the past decade, his work has focused primarily on urban air quality and the development of materials for environmental education. Dr. Allen was a lead investigator for the first and second Texas Air Quality Studies, which involved hundreds of researchers drawn from around the world, and which have had a substantial impact on the direction of air quality policies in Texas. He has also developed environmental educational materials for engineering curricula and for the University’s core curriculum, as well as engineering education materials for high school students. The quality of his work has been recognized by the National Science Foundation (through the Presidential Young Investigator Award), the AT&T Foundation (through an Industrial Ecology Fellowship), the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (through the Cecil Award for contributions to environmental engineering and through the Research Excellence Award of the Sustainable Engineering Forum), the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (through their Distinguished Lecturer Award), and the State of Texas (through the Governor’s Environmental Excellence teaching awards at UCLA and the University of Texas.

Dr. Allen received his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering, with distinction, from Cornell University in 1979. His M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering were awarded by the California Institute of Technology in 1981 and 1983. He has held visiting faculty appointments at the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the Department of Energy.

Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Evangeline Reyes