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Sara Runkel

Environmental Physics, ScB

Advisor:  Ian Dell'Antonio

Thesis:  Atmospheric Boundary Layer Dynamics and Pollutant Transport in La Paz, Bolivia

Thesis Advisors:  Brad Marston, Baylor Fox-Kemper, Ian Dell’Antonio


Environmental Physics applies the theories of physics to environmental issues and orients the science within a political context by incorporating environmental science, policy, and ethics into a framework of physics. Using physics as the foundation and supporting coursework to apply it to environmental issues, I have learned both the physics of climate change and how climate research can be ethically conducted and effectively communicated.


Through working with the Lab for Atmospheric Physics in La Paz, Bolivia, I worked to create an understanding of pollution distribution in La Paz. In an effort to better understand the dynamics of the atmosphere and its influence on pollution distribution, my thesis uses data collected in La Paz, Bolivia to compare and verify two different models of the atmospheric boundary layer.  Both models were able to capture the boundary layer development in La Paz during the period of April to August of 2014, and both models were able to replicate the transport of ozone from in the city of La Paz to the mountain observatory on Chacaltaya.


Acknowledgments:  I would like to thank my concentration advisor Professor Dell'antonio, for supporting me through the IC process; Dean Chang, for always giving me and the other ICers support and guidance; and my research and thesis advisor, Professor Marston, for pushing me, giving me hours of direction, and assisting me in completing what is a dream project of mine.


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"Hi, Sara, Congratulations! Your dedication to crafting your concentration and your excellent thesis were truly inspiring." --Ian Dell'Antonio


"Congratulations, Sara, on completing your independent concentration in environmental physics with Honors!" --Brad Marston



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