Prof. douglas Collins

Prof. Collins graduated from Colgate University in 2008, where he studied chemistry with a minor in geology and filled much of his remaining schedule with environmental studies coursework and research on atmospheric aerosol chemistry. Prof. Collins earned graduate degrees under the guidance of Prof. Kimberly Prather at the University of California, San Diego. Upon completing his PhD in 2014, he served as a course instructor at UC San Diego, a research laboratory manager, and as Managing Director for the Center for Aerosol Impacts on Chemistry of the Environment (CAICE). In 2016, Dr. Collins began a postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Prof. Jonathan Abbatt at the University of Toronto, where he worked on a variety of topics including a field project to measure aerosol particles in the Canadian Arctic, along with lab-based and field studies on air and surfaces within indoor environments. In 2018, Prof. Collins moved to Lewisburg to join the Bucknell University faculty as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry. 

Building on his scientific background, Prof. Collins' current research uses advanced mass spectrometry approaches to investigate chemistry that occurs on air-exposed interfaces. His group has been working on fundamental chemistry projects inspired by built environments (chemicals of emerging concern, air cleaning, human surfaces, and disinfection) and the air-sea interface. The research group is broadly interested in exploring the interface between the biosphere and atmosphere, including an ongoing collaborative chemical ecology study about how fireflies chemically communicate using volatile chemicals and organic surface coatings.