EPA Provides $8.5 Million to Protect Air Quality in a Changing Climate

WASHINGTON, DC – In early April the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $8.5 million in research funding to 12 universities to protect air quality from the current and future challenges associated with the impacts of climate change.

“The research funded by these grants will improve our understanding of how climate change is impacting our air and our health,” says Thomas A. Burke, EPA science advisor and deputy assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “By examining the relationship between air quality and climate change this research will help better protect human health and the environment.”

Research has shown that climate change can affect air quality and impact public health. With the funding, researchers will expand investigations to understand:

  • Health impacts from smoke due to a rise in wildfires that are increasing as a result of climate change;
  • Atmospheric changes in air pollution chemistry that are occurring due to climate change;
  • Potential consequences of increased levels of dust from particle pollution on human health and visibility;
  • Drought and land-use changes in the western U.S. that may impact the incidence of dust storms; and
  • Impacts to air quality from increased nitrogen-based fertilizer use.

The grants, funded through the agency’s Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, are being awarded to the following institutions:

  • University of California, Davis, for Optimal Energy Portfolios to Sustain Economic Advantage, Achieve GHG Targets and Minimize PM2.5.
  • University of California, Irvine, for Effects of Ammonia on Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation in a Changing Climate.
  • University of Colorado, Boulder, for Rethinking the Formation of Secondary Organic Aerosols (SOA) under Changing Climate by Incorporating Mechanistic and Field Constraints.
  • Colorado State University (Fort Collins), for Planning for an Unknown Future: Incorporating Meteorological Uncertainty into Predictions of the Impact of Fires and Dust on Particulate Matter.
  • Columbia University, New York, NY, for Quantifying Risks from Changing U.S. PM2.5 Distributions Due to Climate Variability and Warming with Large Multi-model Ensembles and High-Resolution Downscaling.
  • Emory University, Atlanta, GA, for Wildfires in the Rocky Mountains Region: Current and Future Impacts on PM2.5, Health and Policy.
  • Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta), for Integrated Analysis of Land Use Based Policies for Improving Air and Water Quality: A Focus on Agricultural Reactive Nitrogen and Wildland Fire Emissions as Climate, Land Use and Anthropogenic Emissions Change.
  • Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta), for The Effect of Ammonia on Organic Aerosols in a Changing Climate.
  • Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, for Effects of Changes in Climate and Land Use on U.S. Dust and Wildfire Particulate Matter.
  • University of Maryland (College Park), for Particulate Matter Prediction and Source Attribution for U.S. Air Quality Management in a Changing World.
  • University of New Mexico (Albuquerque), for Evaluating the Timeline of Particulate Matter Exposure from Urban Transportation and Land-Use Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Strategies Using a Novel Modeling Framework.
  • Washington State University (Pullman), for Ensemble Analysis of Global Change Projections for U.S. Air Quality Using a Novel Combination of Lagrangian and Gridded Air Quality Models.
  • University of Wyoming (Laramie), for Interplay Between Black and Brown Carbon from Biomass Burning and Climate.

To learn more about these awards, visit: Research Grants.
To learn more about EPA’s air research, visit: Air Research.

Featured

  • Fellowes Launches New 3D Modular, Product Configurators

    Contract interiors and architectural solutions provider Fellowes recently announced the launch of new 3D modular and product configurators for several of its product lines, according to a news release. The new products offer SIF file integration and pricing for the Volo, Markerboards, Sena, and Rising product lines in connection with 3D Cloud, which provides 3D product visualization and 3D digital asset management.

  • Epson Receives Seven AV Industry Awards

    Projectors manufacturer Epson recently announced that it received multiple awards across the Higher Ed AV Awards, SCN Stellar Service Awards, and InfoComm 2025, according to a news release. The company was recognized for three projectors from its PowerLite L-Series line, accessories, installation process, and its customer support team.

  • old university building with visible aging signs, overlaid with digital data graphics like thermal maps, charts, and system icons

    Modernizing Higher Education Infrastructure: Why Smarter Facility Management Is Essential to Protecting Aging Schools

    Schools now have the opportunity to adopt smarter, more strategic approaches to futureproof operations and enhance the on-campus experience.

  • Addressing the Housing Affordability Crisis Through Creative Campus Development

    Many Southern California college and university campuses are living amidst surging housing costs, driving the need to house more of their populations on campus. Especially for community colleges, the need to support millions of unhoused and housing insecure students has become a prominent issue that lawmakers and institutions alike are trying to solve.

Digital Edition