The Slade Lab

News:

2025:

May 28: Our new publication, led by Slade group alumnus, Dr. Adam Cooper, in collaboration with the Prather research lab, gets published in Science Advances, "Identifying Wastewater Chemicals in Coastal Aerosols." Also on the publication are Slade group co-authors Mallory Small (now in industry) and summer undergraduate researcher Katy Belcher (now a PhD student in biomedical engineering at Washington University of St. Louis). 

A few news articles: UC San Diego Today, The Los Angeles Times, and The San Diego Union-Tribune. 

Video interviews with Prof. Slade:

NBC 7 San Diego, KPBS, Fox 5 News

May 27: Congratulations to Kanuri Roundtree from the Slade lab, who is now officially a Ph.D. candidate after successfully passing her third-year candidacy examination! Kanuri is the sixth Ph.D. candidate from the Slade lab. We're very excited for you, Kanuri!

May 2: Prof. Slade receives the George W. and Carol A. Lattimer Research Fellow for Cross-Disciplinary Explorations Award! This award provides research funds and a quarter of teaching relief to focus on a cross-disciplinary research project. Congratulations to the Slade lab for their contributions leading up to this award!

April 29: Dr. Slade has been promoted to Associate Professor of Chemistry with Tenure!

April 14: Prof. Slade, along with writing collaborators Profs. Yue Zhang (Texas A&M), Andy Ault (University of Michigan), and Arthur Chan (University of Toronto), publish a new Perspective article in ES&T, "An Atmospheric Chemistry Perspective on Airborne Micro- and Nanoplastic Particles." This perspective highlights the unique chemical interactions, measurement considerations, and research outlook on airborne plastic particles.

March 23-27: The Slade Lab is well represented at this year's ACS conference in San Diego, CA! Prof. Slade gives an invited talk. Graduate students, Maya Morris, Kanuri Roundtree, and Diana Tran, each deliver fantastic poster presentations on their work.

January 9: Slade Lab Ph.D. student, Kanuri Roundtree, heads to Paris, France, to conduct a three-week study on biomass burning aerosol phase at the CESAM atmospheric simulation chamber with collaborator, Prof. David De Haan from the University of San Diego.

January 2: The Slade Lab is thrilled to officially welcome Amelie Creekmore, a first-year Ph.D student, to the group. Amelie will be studying the secondary organic aerosol chemistry of emerging contaminants, focused on atmospheric oxidation mechanisms of ultraviolet (UV) filters used in sunscreens!

2024:

October 23: Congratulations to Dr. Ryan Tumminello on his paper published in ES&T, "Size-dependent nascent sea spray aerosol bounce fractions and estimated viscosity: the role of divalent cation enrichment, surface tension, and the Kelvin effect." Great teamwork, Slade Lab, and CAICE! "https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.4c04312

October 21-25: Prof. Jonathan Slade and recent Slade lab grads, Dr. Adam Cooper, Dr. Ryan Tumminello, and Dr. Samantha Kruse, give presentations at the annual American Association for Aerosol Research (AAAR) conference in Albuquerque, NM!

October 21st: Slade lab welcomes new rotation student, Iris Yourick (from U. Maryland)!

October 16th: New paper from Dr. Adam Cooper in ACS ES&T Air is published, "Photo-initiated degradation kinetics of the organic UV filter oxybenzone in solutions and aerosols: impacts of salt, photosensitizers, and the medium." Way to go Slade lab!

October 4th: Congratulations to Dr. Adam Cooper on his new publication, recently accepted in ACS ES&T Air, "Photo-initiated degradation kinetics of the organic UV filter oxybenzone in solutions and aerosols: impacts of salt, photosensitizers, and the medium." A massive and important new paper!

October 4th: Slade Lab hosts the 40th Annual Informal Gathering on Atmospheric Science and Photochemistry (IGASP) at UC San Diego. The event was a massive success due to exceptional teamwork. Pictures to come!

September 25th: Congratulations to Lincoln Mehndiratta on his new publication, "Immersion ice nucleation of atmospherically relevant lipid particles," in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Environmental Science: Atmospheres! **Measurements were done In the Grassian group using a Raman microscope with complete RH and temperature control.**

September 23rd: Slade lab welcomes new rotation students, Patricia Morris (from UC Irvine) and Amelie Creekmore (from U. Washington)!

August 19th: Dr. Adam Cooper gives an oral presentation of his work, "Photo-initiated degradation kinetics of the organic UV filter oxybenzone in the bulk and aerosol phase: Impact of salt, photosensitizers, and environmental phase, and effects on toxicity," at the American Chemical Society meeting in Denver, CO.

August 15th: Dr. Adam Cooper passed his dissertation defense, becoming the third Ph.D. graduate of our lab. Congratulations to Adam! He has been employed with the San Diego Air Pollution Control District as an Air Pollution Chemist.

July 24th: Congratulations to Dr. Samantha Kruse on her publication, "Effects of relative humidity and phase on the molecular detection of sea spray aerosol using extractive electrospray ionization," in Analytical Chemistry!

July 16th: Slade group members Lincoln Mehndiratta and Prof. Slade co-author "Effects of wind speed on size-dependent morphology and composition of sea spray aerosols," in ACS Earth & Space Chemistry. Congrats, NSF-CAICE! 

May 28th: Dr. Paul (Ryan) Tumminello successfully defends his Ph.D.! He will be continuing his career as a postdoctoral researcher at NOAA.

May 16: Undergraduate researcher Tessa Tafuri wins the Best Analytical & Atmospheric Poster Award at the UCSD ACS Undergraduate Research Symposium!

April 22nd: Our group is highlighted on Earth Day by the NSF!

March 22: Dr. Samantha Kruse becomes the first Ph.D. graduate of our lab. Congrats Sam! She will continue her career as a postdoctoral researcher at Sandia National Lab.

2023:

September 25th: Ph.D. Candidate Adam Cooper presents on our recent ES&T Paper at the United Nations Chemicals and Waste Conference!

August 23: The Slade Group moves down to the SIO pier for our summer field measurements for our MATADOR campaign.

August 17th: Ph.D. Student Samantha Kruse receives a Recognition of Excellence for Leadership in Research Safety from the ACS Committee on Education.

August 13th: The Slade Group is at the ACS Fall Meeting! Ph.D. Students Ryan Tumminello and Lincoln Mehndiratta are presenting posters.  

July 7th: Our paper, "We Need a "Keeling Curve" Approach for Contaminants of Emerging Concern" is out in Environmental Science & Technology!

June 26th: We welcome two undergraduate student researchers, Isaac Sipp-Alpers and Alexis Shenkiryk, to the Slade Group! They are participants in NSF-CAICE'S SURP program.

May 18th: Our paper, "Heterogeneous and Photosensitized Oxidative Degradation Kinetics of the Plastic Additive Bisphenol-A in Sea Spray Aerosol Mimics" is out in the Journal of Physical Chemistry of A and has been selected as alternative cover art!

May 15th: Our paper, "Aerosols, airflow, and more: examining the interaction of speech and the physical environment" is out in Frontiers of Psychology! Congratulations, Ryan and Renee!

May 10th: Ph.D. students Sam Kruse and Ben Carr present at the Aerodyne ToF-CIMS Meeting in Atlanta

March 26th: Prof Slade and Ph.D. students Ryan Tuminnello & Sam Kruse present at the National ACS Meeting in Indianapolis

February 13th: The Slade lab moves down to the SIO pier for our winter intensive period of the MATADOR campaign!

January 5th: Welcome to new Ph.D. students Maya Morris, Diana Tran & Kanuri Roundtree who will be joining the Slade lab!

2022:

December 8th: Congratulations to Allison Kawasaki on the successful defense of her masters thesis: "Uptake Kinetics of a Pure α-pinene-derived Hydroxy Nitrate onto Seed Aerosol at Different Relative Humidity and Particle Acidity"

November 23: Congratulations to Cindy Tan on the successful defense of her masters thesis, "Photodegradation and Heterogeneous OH Oxidation Kinetics and Product Analysis of Aerosolized Triclosan Mixed with NaCl and Humic Acid!"

October 4th: Prof Slade presents "Molecular Drivers of Nascent and Aged Marine Aerosol Phase States" at AAAR

June 23rd: Parts of the Slade Lab move to the Hydraulics Laboratory for the CAICE summer campaign, CHAOS (Characterizing Atmospheric-Oceanic parameters of SOARS.)

June 13th: We welcome summer undergraduate researchers Julia Niehoff and Vanessa Valdez to the Slade Group for the summer!

May 17th: We have received an EPA Early Career STAR Grant for the Real-Time Analysis of Aerosol-Phase Plastic Additives in a Coastal Marine Environment in California. 

May 12th: Undergraduate student Karen Lopo-Zapeda presents at the UCSD ACS-SA Symposium and wins the Outstanding Poster Award for Physical/Analytical Chemistry!

May 11th: Our article, Microplastics and nanoplastics in the marine-atmosphere environment, is out in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment!

May 3rd: PhD Candidate Samantha Kruse presents at the Aerodyne Tof-CIMS user meeting

March 23rd: PhD Student Lincoln Mehrendiratta presents at the Spring ACS Meeting

March 8th: Our first grant is funded by the NSF! We'll be recruiting graduate students and a post doctoral researcher for projects concerning: Understanding the Fate of Plastic Additives in Marine Aerosol Mimics.

2021:

December 13th: PhD Students Samantha Kruse, Ryan Tuminello and Adam Cooper present at the AGU Meeting 

November 10th: We're excited to host a summer undergraduate student through CAICE's SURP Program! Learn more here and apply here by February 28th!

October 18th: Our first paper from the lab, Evolution of Sea Spray Aerosol Particle Phase State Across a Phytoplankton Bloom, is out in ACS Earth and Space Chemistry!

October 18th: Ph.D. students Samantha Kruse and Ryan Tumminello present at the AAAR conference

August 10th: SURP students Karen Lopo-Zepeda & Katy Belcher both present their summer research projects at the CAICE symposium!

July 27th: Congratulations to Cindy Tran for receiving the UC Carbon Neutrality Initiative Fellowship!

July 23rd: Ph.D. student Adam Cooper is featured on KPBS for his research on pollution transfer in the Tijuana River Valley.

June 11th: Congratulations to seniors ZY Lin and Isaac Canada on their graduation!

June 4th: We welcome two CAICE SURP undergraduate researchers for the summer, Karen Lopo-Zepeda and Katy Belcher!

April 8th: Ph.D. student Adam Cooper presents at the ACS Spring conference

March 5th: We welcome Benjamin Carr and Lincoln Mehndiratta (co-advised with Vicki Grassian) as new Ph.D. Students!

February 25th: Some of our mentored high school teams present at the CLEAR Symposium hosted by CAICE!

2020:

November 27th: Ph.D. student Adam Cooper presents at MICRO 2020 International Conference

October 1st: Cindy Tran transitions into the M.S. program in our lab!

September 25th: Ph.D. student Sam Kruse has advanced to candidacy! Fantastic job Sam!

June 13th: Congratulations to seniors Reece James and Cindy Tan on their graduation!

June 2nd: The Slade Lab is now a certified Bronze Level Green Lab!

May 21st: Undergraduates Cindy Tam, Reece James, and Z.Y. Lin present at the ACS-SA Virtual Undergraduate Research Symposium. Congratulations to Reece for receiving an Outstanding Presentation Award!

May 16th: Congratulations to Ryan Tumminello for receiving the San Diego Fellowship sponsored by NSF-CAICE!

May 1st: Congratulations  to Isaac Canada for receiving the 2020 Undergraduate Summer Research Award from the Division of Physical Sciences!

March 31st: Congratulations to Adam Cooper for receiving the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and Ryan Tumminello for receiving an Honorable Mention!

February 26th: Congratulations to Ph.D. students Adam Cooper and Ryan Tumminello for passing their second year oral examinations!

January 6th: We welcome Mallory Small as our new Ph.D. student and congratulate Allison Kawasaki as she transitions into the M.S. program in our lab!

2019:

December 13th: Ph.D. students Samantha Kruse, Ryan Tumminello, and Adam Cooper present at the AGU conference in San Francisco

October 14th: Prof Slade and undergraduate researcher Isaac Canada present at the AAAR conference in Portland

August 25th: Prof Slade and Ph.D. students Samantha Kruse, Ryan Tumminello, and Adam Cooper present at the ACS conference here in San Diego

July 1: Slade lab welcomes incoming Ph.D. student and summer rotator, Mallory Small. Welcome, Mallory!

June 24: Slade lab welcomes our summer REU student supported by the NSF-CAICE, Isis Guadalupe-Diaz from the University of Puerto Rico. Welcome, Isis!

June 17: Slade lab moves to the Hydraulics Lab "H-Lab" at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography for the NSF-CAICE 2019 summer intensive study SeaSCAPE (Sea Spray Chemistry And Particle Evolution).

May 30: Congratulations to Ph.D. students Samantha Kruse, Ryan Tumminello, and Adam Cooper for their acceptance to present during the 2019 ACS Fall Meeting here in San Diego, CA. Way to go, everyone!

May 16: Slade lab undergraduate researcher, Isaac Canada, presents during the ACS Student Affiliates Undergraduate Research Symposium at UCSD. Job well done, Isaac!

March 18: Nate, Sam, Ryan, and Adam attend Aerodyne Research Inc. in Billerica, MA for training on the EESI-ToF-CIMS. "It's not EESI being green!"

March 15: Congratulations to Ph.D. student Sam Kruse for passing her second-year oral examination! Hard work and perseverance pay off - way to go, Sam!