Atmospheric Chemistry GROUP

Shanhu Lee

Professor, Atmospheric and Earth Sciences

Adjunct Professor, Chemistry

University of Alabama in Huntsville

4208 NSSTC/CRH

320 Sparkman Drive, Huntsville, AL 35805

Office: 256-961-7734

https://sites.google.com/uah.edu/shanhulee/home

Education:

• Beijing University of Chemical Technology, B.S. (1989)

• University of Tokyo, M.S. (1994)

• University of Tokyo, Ph.D. (1997) 

• MIT, Postdoctoral fellow (1998-1999)

• NOAA, Postdoctoral fellow (1999-2001)

Distinctions: 

• JSPS Young Scientist Fellow (1995-1997)

• NASA CRYSTAL-FACE Science Team Award (2003)

• NSF CAREER Award (2007)

• NCAR ASP Visiting Faculty (2012)

• NSF MRI Award (2021)

• Top-10 most downloaded JGR papers (2021-2022)

Scientific background:

Shanhu Lee’s research has focused on atmospheric chemistry, atmospheric new particle formation, and advanced mass spectrometry instrumentation. Her research group has conducted both field observations and laboratory kinetics studies.

Lee’s work based on multi-year NASA aircraft measurements showed that ion-induced nucleation is important for aerosol formation in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (Lee et al., 2003). The observational data presented in this work also helped test and constrain the molecular-level sulfuric acid nucleation model SAWNUC under atmospherically relevant conditions.

Lee has pioneered laboratory studies of aerosol nucleation involving sulfuric acid (Young et al., 2008; Benson et al., 2008; Tiszenkel et al., 2019), ammonia (Benson et al., 2009; Benson et al., 2011), amines (Erupe et al., 2011; Yu et al., 2012), and highly oxygenated organic molecules (Tiszenkel and Lee, 2023), with measurements of detailed chemical precursors in controlled laboratory environments.

For the first time, Yu et al. (2012) demonstrated the synergistic effects of ammonia and amines on sulfuric acid aerosol nucleation, an important feature for understanding aerosol formation processes in the real atmosphere, especially in polluted urban environments. This laboratory finding was later confirmed by independent laboratory experiments and quantum chemical simulations.

Lee developed chemical ionization reaction schemes to simultaneously detect ammonia and amines using ethanol and acetone as reagent ions (Erupe et al., 2011; Yu and Lee, 2012). These reaction schemes have since been adopted in chemical ionization mass spectrometers (CIMS) by other research groups. Currently, the CIMS in Lee’s research group is one of only three instruments in the world capable of reliably detecting ammonia and amines in the real atmosphere (You et al., 2015; Tiszenkel et al., 2024).

Lee was the first to provide atmospheric observational evidence of, and to systematically analyze, the absence of new particle formation in isoprene-rich forests (Kanawade et al., 2012; Lee et al., 2016). She also conducted laboratory kinetics studies (Tiszenkel and Lee, 2023) to reconcile previously conflicting theories regarding how isoprene suppresses biogenic new particle formation under different oxidant and precursor conditions.

Lee’s recent findings include urban aerosol nucleation mechanisms involving sulfuric acid, bases, and low-volatility organics. This work represents the first study to achieve closure between measured nucleation and growth rates with the measured concentrations of nucleation precursors in the urban atmosphere (Tiszenkel et al., 2025). Another recent discovery is the identification of oxygenated organosulfates as a new class of nucleation precursors in mixed biogenic–anthropogenic environments (Tiszenkel et al., 2026).

Lee has conducted field observations of new particle formation in a wide range of atmospheric environments, including the free troposphere (Young et al., 2008; Benson et al., 2008), coastal sites (Yu et al., 2011), forests (Kanawade et al., 2012; Yu et al., 2014; Lee et al., 2016), suburban locations (Erupe et al., 2010; Kanawade et al., 2014), and polluted urban sites (Watson et al., 2023; Tiszenkel et al., 2025).

She has also maintained two long-term observation sites for new particle formation studies in the United States (Kent, Ohio, and Huntsville, Alabama). Such long-term datasets are rare yet essential for advancing understanding of atmospheric aerosol nucleation and growth processes.