Biography

Dr. Yevgen Nazarenko is an assistant professor in the Division of Industrial Hygiene, Department of Environmental & Public Health Sciences, College of Medicine at the University of Cincinnati since July 1, 2023. I am currently interested in the potential of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) to reduce the exposure of aviation industry workers to toxic and carcinogenic pollutants in aircraft engine exhaust, occupational health and safety considerations for developing a regulatory framework for predictive artificial intelligence in aviation, the advancements in the use of virtual/extended-reality(VR/XR)-based training tools for workers in aviation, developing the next generation of energy recovery ventilation technologies, emission of airborne nanoparticles from electric motors of household appliances, and the need to update World Health Organization’s global ambient air quality guidelines. He holds a B.Sc. in Chemistry, an M.Sc. in Environmental Chemistry and Teaching from the National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv, Ukraine, and a Ph.D. in environmental sciences from Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA, where he was a Fulbright student and conducted multidisciplinary research focusing on aerosol science at the interface of chemistry, biology, and physics to generate core knowledge on the safety of nanotechnology-based consumer products and releases of nanomaterial-containing aerosols from them – a cutting-edge field of research and a major concern for policy-makers and regulators worldwide. Dr. Nazarenko started his work on nanotechnology safety at the dawn of this research domain’s development. This head start gave him an opportunity to become one of the pioneers in the nanosafety research area, which is reflected in the originality of his publications and his initiative to introduce the subject of nanotechnology safety to the broad scientific community through organization of the relevant panel sessions in which he recruited researchers, consultants, manufacturing sector, legal and government representatives over the course of a decade.

Dr. Nazarenko has continued his research during the postdoctoral training and his research associateship at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada prior to joining the University of Cincinnati. During this time, he carried out numerous multidisciplinary research projects ranging from the investigation of exhaust air pollution interaction with snow, to analytical technique development for nanoparticulate and microparticulate matter, to the development of novel compostable air filtration materials and the analysis of global air pollution regulations.

Dr. Nazarenko served as an invited speaker at numerous professional events and in webinars, as a judge in local and international fellowship and student award competitions, and regularly reviews articles for peer-reviewed journals. Yevgen moved to Canada immediately after his Ph.D. at Rutgers University to join McGill University at the invitation of Prof. Parisa A. Ariya where he became a postdoctoral fellow and was a recipient of the Mitacs Elevate postdoctoral fellowship and the FRQNT postdoctoral fellowship for his pioneering project on the interaction of vehicle-exhaust air pollutants with snow, among many other projects, including characterization of nanoparticulate matter in snow and nanoparticulate air pollutants in a First Nation community. At McGill, Dr. Nazarenko published impactful publications – two featured on the cover pages of the journals – and worked with the McGill Media Relations Office and journalists who helped him inform the public and policy-makers about the results of his research through feature articles, radio and TV coverage.

Dr. Nazarenko investigated photochemistry of exhaust-derived pollutants in snow and further developed the aerosolization-based technique for characterization of nanoparticulate matter in snow. In addition to research, Dr. Yevgen Nazarenko has extensive teaching experience in chemistry, biology, atmospheric sciences, air sampling and analysis techniques and scientific writing. Under the auspices of the McGill Writing Centre, Dr. Nazarenko has been a peer scientific writing group convener for three years in 2013 to 2016 and resumed this role for the 2018/2019 academic year, served as a facilitator of the NSERC postdoctoral fellowship peer review workshop, designed and conducted workshops at McGill University on how to write press releases and the peer review process.

Dr. Nazarenko served as a councilor on the McGill PGSS Council and was a general executive committee member in the Association of Postdoctoral Fellows of McGill from September 1, 2013 until August 31, 2015. At the international level, Dr. Nazarenko is active in the Air & Waste Management Association (A&WMA) where he is now serving as chair of the Nanotechnology Technical Coordinating Committee and director of the Mid-Atlantic States Section of the A&WMA. Under Dr. Nazarenko's leadership as chair, the section won the 2017 Minasian award for outstanding performance and service to members.

Dr. Nazarenko's work has received recognition in the form of competitive awards, including, during his time at McGill, the Top 20 ACFAS “La preuve par l’image” in 2017, the Young Professional Best Paper Award in the Environmental Management Group at the Annual Conference and Exhibition of the Air & Waste Management Association in 2016, and the Delegation Award from the Office of the Vice-Principal to represent McGill University at the Universitas 21 Early Career Researchers’ Workshop: Innovation & Entrepreneurship in Dublin, Ireland in 2015.

Check out fourteen papers published in the Special Issue of Atmosphere on Interaction of Air Pollution with Snow and Seasonality Effects at https://www.mdpi.com/journal/atmosphere/special_issues/Air_Snow