Aerosol and Atmospheric Chemistry
Research Group of Matthew Fraser & Pierre Herckes
Research Group of Matthew Fraser & Pierre Herckes
Welcome to the Aerosol and Atmospheric Chemistry website of the research group of Matthew Fraser and Pierre Herckes @ ASU.
Matthew Fraser is a professor and the associate director in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment at Arizona State University.
Pierre Herckes is a professor in the School of Molecular Sciences at Arizona State University.
Our combined research activities encompass a variety of topics in environmental engineering and chemistry. We mainly work on aerosols and atmospheric chemistry, on topics such as ozone formation, dust entrainment, and the climate effects of aerosols and clouds. A significant effort of our research is in environmental analytics, developing and improving tools and protocols to monitor atmospheric and and other environmental pollutants.
Our work is highly collaborative and interdisciplinary, combining chemistry, environmental/atmospheric science, biology, and environmental engineering- often applied to local air and water pollution issues.
Please check out the tabs above to find details about our group, our research, our publications, etc!
Recent News
July 2026
June 2026
June 2026
May 2026
May 2026
December 2025
September 2025
March 2025
April 2025
February 2025
What lives in the fog? Pollution-eating bacteria. Thuong talked about her research in our group on Science Friday. https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/bacteria-in-fog/
Congratulations to Dan, who started a position as Assistant Professor at Lincoln Memorial University College of Veterinary Medicine.
Our work on the reprocessing of mine tailings was featured in a university press release, “Rethinking how we treat mining waste” (ASU press release – https://news.asu.edu/20260610-science-and-technology-rethinking-how-we-treat-mining-waste ).
Our collaborative research on dust suppression was featured in an Arizona Board of Regents press release (https://www.azregents.edu/news-releases/regents-grant-fueled-research-curbs-dust-pollution-improves-soil-health-central ).
'The fog is alive!' - American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) article EurekaAlert! news article about Thuong's work with fog.
Climate change accelerates the threat of microplastics
Pierre is interviewed for Arizona PBS Horizon to talk about microplastic pollution.
GLOR research was featured in the September 2025 issue of The Magazine for Envrionmental Managers: Fraser, M. P.; Arellano, A. F.; Herckes, P.; Robinson, E. S.; Sorooshian, A. (2025) “Feeling the heat: ground level ozone research (GLOR) ramps up in Maricopa County” EM Magazine, Sept 2025
ASU researchers test environmental risks of tire emissions on Arizona highways
ASU Press release and ASU news (paper #137) featuring work done by the group.
Congratulations to Thuong, who successfully defended her Ph.D!
'Amount of ingested microplastics is on the rise', Pierre in Arizona PBS discussing microplastics.