Although traditional undergraduate analytical chemistry laboratories are typically well-equipped for the measurement of contaminants in water and soil, few teaching laboratories have the expensive and specialized equipment required for analysis of the ambient atmosphere. The advent of citizen science, however, has led to the availability of inexpensive, portable equipment that allows non-experts to measure gas-phase atmospheric composition and respirable particle concentrations in real time, and thus capture variations in air quality at spatial and temporal scales beyond those achievable using traditional air quality monitoring networks. Here, we report early results from an exploratory, student-led air quality monitoring project conducted with the AirBeam sampler, a small, low-cost optical particle counter, in a third-year environmental chemistry course. In this project, students were asked to engage with the primary literature to discover areas of current interest in urban air quality, formulate a hypothesis testable using the AirBeam sampler, design and conduct an air sampling campaign, and prepare both an oral presentation and a journal-style article summarizing the main findings of their campaign and discussing its broader implications. Although sample project topics were provided—air quality in the public transit system, the influence of cooking on indoor air quality, and diurnal variations in air quality, for example—students were encouraged to chart their own paths, and in the process discover both the challenges of independent work and the excitement that comes with obtaining results that are truly new.

Particulate matter in public spaces: An exploratory, student-led air quality monitoring project for the third-year classroom

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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