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Tag: Pao Baylon

Purple reigns for new PhDs

Let me introduce you to our newest graduates, Dr. Crystal McClure and Dr. Pao Baylon! A few raindrops didn’t diminish their sunny smiles and the cheering crowd as they marched at the University of Washington’s graduation on June 9, 2018. We celebrate your success and are so excited for both of you!

Pao is employed at the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality in Boise. Crystal will begin a post-doctoral fellowship at UC Davis in August.

2018 begins with 3 new group papers

The Jaffe Group has kicked off 2018 with 3 new publications.

  • Xi Gong, et al., Ozone in China: Spatial distribution and leading meteorological factors controlling O3 in 16 Chinese cities. Gong and her coauthors examined ozone (O3) concentrations in 16 Chinese cities and developed a statistical model to estimate the maximum daily 8-hour (MDA8) O3 during 2014–2016. They found that the Generalized Additive Model (GAM) captured 43-90% of daily O3 variations. They also identified the leading meteorological factors that affect O3 for each city. Read the full paper here.
Average 8-hour MDA8 (ug/m3) ozone concentrations for 16 Chinese cities, 2014-2016
Average maximum daily 8-hour (MDA8, ug/m3) ozone concentrations for 16 Chinese cities, 2014-2016.
  • Pao Baylon, et al., Impact of biomass burning plumes on photolysis rates and ozone formation at the Mount Bachelor Observatory. Baylon and his coauthors examined biomass burning (BB) events at Mt. Bachelor Observatory (MBO) during the summer of 2015. Biomass burning can emit large amounts of aerosols and gases into the atmosphere. These plumes contain compounds that react with sunlight to produce ozone, a health hazard to sensitive individuals. The photochemistry in BB plumes is poorly understand. Baylon and his coauthors addressed this knowledge gap by using MBO data to calculate ozone production rates and comparing these values with modeled values. Read the full paper here.
  • Lei Zhang, et al., A quantification method for peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) using gas chromatography (GC) with a non-radioactive pulsed discharge detector (PDD). Zhang and his coauthors developed a method for continuous peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) measurements using gas chromatography with a non-radioactive detector. PAN is a known precursor of ozone. Their method has high accuracy and is more readily deployable in field campaigns than the traditional gas chromatography method that utilizes a radioactive detector.  Read the full paper here.

Here’s to Dr. Pao Baylon, newest PhD graduate in the Jaffe Group

Congratulations to Pao Baylon for the successful defense of his PhD thesis on May 31, 2017! His dissertation, titled Impact of Stratospheric Intrusions, Regional Wildfires, and Long-Range Transport Events on Air Quality in the Western United States, was the culmination of 6 years of hard work in the Jaffe Group. Pao was the first author on 3 peer-reviewed papers, and his fourth paper is currently in review. (See his papers on the Publications page.) He is now employed at the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, Air Quality Division.

Pao Baylon dissertation celebration 5-31-2017
Members of the Jaffe Group celebrating Pao’s PhD defense: (left to right) James Laing, Pao, Crystal McClure, Lei Zhang, Xi Gong, and Dan Jaffe

Pao shared some advice for graduate students: “Grad school is a cycle of ups and downs, and to survive this journey you should celebrate your triumphs and avoid dwelling on your lows.” And we celebrate you, Pao!

16 papers published in 2016!

2016 was a record year for papers for the Jaffe Group. This year, group members were first authors of 5 papers and contributing authors of 11 more papers, for a total of 16 papers.

The following are the group’s first-authored papers of 2016:

  • Pao Baylon et al., Interannual variability in baseline ozone and its relationship to surface ozone in the western U.S.
  • Nicole Briggs et al., Particulate matter, ozone, and nitrogen species in aged wildfire plumes observed at the Mount Bachelor Observatory
  • Lynne Gratz et al., Airborne observations of mercury emissions from the Chicago/Gary urban/industrial area during the 2013 NOMADSS campaign
  • James Laing et al., Physical and optical properties of aged biomass burning aerosol from wildfires in Siberia and the Western USA at the Mt. Bachelor Observatory
  • Crystal McClure et al., Carbon dioxide in the free troposphere and boundary layer at the Mt. Bachelor Observatory

See the Publications page for a full list of our published papers.