Scholarship Recipients
2026 Award Recipients
Daniela Guevara Proano
Daniela is a Ph.D. student in Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University (CSU) working with Emily Fischer. Her research focuses on understanding how nitrogen oxides (NOx) influence tropospheric ozone (O3) formation in urban environments. As part of her research, she has participated in mobile and aircraft field campaigns, including SLC-SOS in Salt Lake City and FROZÉ in the Colorado Front Range. In the future, she hopes to bring this knowledge back to her home country Ecuador to strengthen air quality research, support decision-making, and promote equity and inclusion in STEM for women and first-generation students. Daniela also enjoys swimming, running, and cooking.
Nell Schafer
Nell Schafer is a PhD candidate in Atmospheric Chemistry at CU Boulder, and conducts her research at the NOAA Chemical Sciences Lab, advised by Dr. Steve Brown. Her research focuses on understanding tropospheric ozone (O3) chemistry through collecting and analyzing field measurements. This summer, Nell is helping to run the NOy/O3 suite of instruments on the NOAA P-3 research aircraft as part of the Texas Air Quality Study (TexAQS) in Houston, TX. Aside from field measurement collection, Nell's primary research involves 2 main projects: 1) analyzing the impacts of wildfire smoke on O3 production in Salt Lake City, UT using a zero-dimensional box model constrained to 2024 field measurements and 2) developing and deploying a miniaturized cavity enhanced spectrometer to measure NO2 (a precursor to tropospheric O3) on a drone in the CO Front Range, which will improve satellite retrievals and our understanding of the vertical distribution of this pollutant. Outside of research, Nell enjoys trail running, climbing, skiing, camping, and doing ceramics!
Jennifer McGinnis
Jennifer is a Ph.D. student in the Atmospheric Science department at Colorado State University advised by Dr. Jeffrey Pierce. Her research focuses on air quality in the contiguous United States with an emphasis on coarse particulate matter. Currently, she is working to integrate satellite data, model data, and ground measurements together through machine learning to provide estimates of coarse particulate matter away from ground monitoring stations. Jennifer developed a passion for air quality research during her undergraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she double majored in Biochemistry and Environmental Sciences and worked with Dr. Tracey Holloway to use satellite data for air quality applications. Outside of research, Jennifer enjoys skiing, grass volleyball, and reading.
2025 Award Recipients
Lee Feinman
Lee Feinman is a graduate student in atmospheric analytical chemistry at the University of Colorado Boulder, working under Rainer Volkamer to advance understanding of the chemistry that drives air quality. His research focuses on Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry of semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs). Among other scientific goals, Lee plans to take aircraft-based in situ measurements of glyoxal, an effective tracer of VOC emissions and oxidation chemistry that directly influences production cycles of three major pollutants: O3, NO2, and PM2.5. Lee is passionate about strengthening the scientific community around him through teaching and advocacy, particularly on topics relating to human-atmosphere interactions. When not thinking about research, Lee enjoys cycling Boulder’s beautiful terrain and exploring Denver’s music scene.
Madison Rutherford
Madison Rutherford is a PhD candidate at CU Boulder working with Professor Joost de Gouw. Her research uses time of flight mass spectrometry to investigate volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in indoor and urban air. Her indoor air work used lab experiments to simulate real indoor environments and develop a model of how germicidal UV lamps drive chemistry. Her urban air quality work has included mobile measurements of VOC sources throughout Denver and in landfills along the Front Range. Most recently, she has started mapping VOC concentrations across the Simi Valley landfill to determine how VOCs relate to different landfill processes.
Riley Smith
Riley Smith is an undergraduate student earning a dual degree in environmental science and chemistry at the University of Denver. Her research aims to determine the nitration rate of bovine serum albumin (BSA) proteins in ambient air. The chemical reaction between gas-phase ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and allergenic proteins has been shown to increase the IgE response in rat models, thus suggesting that proteins embedded in pollen could become more allergenic when exposed to urban air pollution. BSA is used as a standard protein analyte to measure the rate of this reaction by determining the nitration degree in varying concentrations of urban air pollutants. Outside her studies, she enjoys skiing the Mary Jane trees, backpacking, and watercolor painting.
2024 Award Recipients
Mercy Ike Ajigah
Mercy Ike Ajigah is a graduate student specializing in Environmental Engineering at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, working with Dr. Kip Carrico in the Air Quality Lab. Her research focuses on using smart building technologies and air leakage diagnostics to enhance building energy efficiency mitigating adverse health impacts by ensuring safe, sustainable indoor environments.
Amber Allen
Amber is a graduate student earning a degree in Civil Engineering at Brigham Young University. Her current research focuses on collecting and analyzing emissions from vehicles in Utah, with an emphasis on emissions from heavy-duty trucks. Amber developed a passion for researching air quality issues while pursuing her undergraduate degree in Environmental Science and Sustainability. She hopes to use her research and educational experiences to improve air quality regulations and address issues of environmental justice in her community.
Weixin Zhang
Weixin Zhang is currently a graduate student in the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University. He studies air pollutant emissions from unconventional oil and gas development (UOGD) through model simulations and field campaigns. His research aims to evaluate the impacts of UOGD activities on health risks in local communities and the formation of regional ozone and haze, as well as to determine the best management practices that minimize such impacts.
2023 Scholarship Recipients
Olivia Sablan
Olivia is a graduate student in the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University, pursuing a master’s degree. Her current research investigates biomass burning through the use of low-cost sensors and satellite observations. Olivia earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Carroll College in Helena, Montana.
En Li
En is currently a graduate student earning a degree in Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University, where he has been studying the impact of agricultural ammonia emissions on air quality in the Colorado Front Range region. His next project involves studying the impact of urban emissions on air quality in US megacities amid changing chemical regimes. En has been interested in air quality ever since moving from Japan to China during his childhood and experiencing severe air pollution as well as drastic improvements in air quality.
William Dresser
Hi! My name is Will Dresser (he/him) and I am currently working as a graduate research assistant at CU Boulder in Atmospheric Chemistry with Joost de Gouw. My research focuses on indoor air quality, and more specifically, the impacts that wildfire emissions can have on the indoor environment. For this work, I have had the chance to run field studies around the Marshall fire as well as laboratory measurements focusing on man made structural emissions. I hope that this work can go to better informing and predicting the impacts that wildfires can have on the environment and human health. Outside of the lab, I enjoy playing soccer, bouldering, and hiking around Boulder whenever I get the chance.
About the Air and Waste Management Association
The Air and Waste Management Association (A&WMA) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan professional organization that enhances knowledge and expertise by providing a neutral forum for information exchange, professional development, networking opportunities, public education, and outreach to more than 5,000 environmental professionals in 65 countries. A&WMA promotes global environmental responsibility and increases the effectiveness of organizations to make critical decisions that benefit society.
