Jen receives American Association for Aerosol Research award

Coty Jen, associate professor of chemical engineering, received the 2025 Kenneth T. Whitby Award from the American Association for Aerosol Research (AAAR).

Presented at the AAAR annual conference, the award recognizes outstanding technical contributions to aerosol science and technology by a young scientist.

Jen investigates the life cycle of aerosol particles in the atmosphere and how these particles affect air quality and the environment. As part of the Center for Atmospheric Particle Studies (CAPS) at Carnegie Mellon, the Jen Lab measures and models how gaseous compounds emitted from various sources react to form and grow aerosol particles in the atmosphere. Jen is particularly interested in the atmospheric particles that often become clouds, which are essential to understanding changes in Earth's climate.

The chemical complexity of wildfire emissions and their health effects is another area of study. In collaboration with data scientists and biomedical engineers, Jen is developing methods to understand how forest management techniques could lessen the impact of wildfire emissions.

Jen specializes in designing instruments to measure previously undetected compounds in hard-to-reach regions of the planet. Her instruments are lower cost, more portable, and better designed to operate in the harsh conditions often present in the atmospheric boundary layer and over the open ocean. In recent field campaigns, the Jen Lab has deployed their instruments on a tethered balloon at a US Department of Energy observatory in Oklahoma and on boats and docks in the Gulf of Maine.

For media inquiries, please contact Lauren Smith at lsmith2@andrew.cmu.edu.