Current Students
Daniel Bonilla
My name is Daniel Bonilla and I am a Junior at Pitzer College studying Environmental Analysis- Environmental Science. In the Purvis-Roberts/Fu lab, I research PM 2.5 in the South Bay of Los Angeles during 2019, 2020, and 2021 to understand if the pandemic-induced trend of better air quality was true in a highly industrialized and impacted community.
Summer 2023, I had the honor of interning at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. I was able to work in the Atmospheric Chemistry Observations and Modeling lab where I researched the evolution of pollutants after the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption.
Natalie Burton
Natalie Burton (they/them): I am a senior at Scripps College dual majoring in chemistry and mathematics. I am involved with two clubs, Women and Minority Voices in STEM and hearhere: The Claremont College's Christian Journal of Thought, and I also work at Denison Library and as a math peer mentor. This past summer I had the opportunity to participate in the University of Michigan Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering's REU Program in Climate and Space Science Observation, where I worked with Dr. Eric A. Kort and Dr. Claire Pettersen on a project analyzing when and under what meteorological conditions emissions from offshore oil and gas platforms in the southern Gulf of Mexico contribute to marine boundary layer brightening.
Ellen Hu
Ellen Hu (Scripps ’24) is an Environmental Analysis and Media Studies double major interested in exploring ways to effectively communicate scientific findings on climate change. Her work in the Purvis-Roberts/Fu lab centers pollutant concentrations in metropolitan areas across the United States, seeking to better understand why there are different concentrations of PM2.5, NO2, and ozone in each region.
Khylah Pugh
Khylah Pugh (she/her) is a junior at Pitzer College interested in tackling issues of environmental justice and public health. Her current research project in the Purvis-Roberts lab investigates air pollution in Southern California's Inland Empire, a predominantly low-income and racially minoritized region severely burdened by the proliferation of warehouses.
Jacob Shiller
My name is Jacob Shiller, and I'm a rising Pitzer Junior double majoring in chemistry and environmental science. I work with Dr. Purvis Roberts and Dr. Fu, in their lab characterizing ambient PM 2.5 pollution from the Claremont area. Along with that I also have a project looking to identify trends looking at ambient air pollution in Bangkok, Thailand.
The summer of 2023 I also had the honor of participating in Rice University's Planet Habitability Over Space and Time REU, where I researched the impact of shale weathering on river chemistry, and the long term carbon cycle.