CANYON, Texas — Environmental concerns have been a popular topic of conversation in global politics in recent years, including at colleges and universities.
West Texas A&M University was recently awarded a $150,000 research grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to analyze the ways to measure climate change with a specific focus on aerosols in clouds containing ice.
The grant money was first announced in September and its purpose is to help colleges and universities who don't have a lot of funding from the DOE for environmental research efforts.
The research is being conducted by university students along with associate professor of environmental science Dr. Naruki Hiranuma, associate professor of engineering Dr. Swastika Bithi and assistant professor of medical engineering Dr. Sanjoy Bhattacharia.
Aerosols can have a positive impact on rain and they often impact the Arctic, especially considering global warming concerns. Thus, the research team has been the first in the world to utilize a simulation called the Portable Ice Nucleation Experiment in Alaska, the Azores and Northeast Oklahoma.
The group is hoping to determine the amount of sunlight being reflected by clouds in the Arctic Circle, which is directly impacted by the number of ice crystals in said clouds.
Bithi, who has three patents for microfluidic devices, has been especially helpful in the investigative process and hopes to continue research at the Palo Duro Research Center at WT while noting the importance of the project.
Overall, the research will help to form a better understanding of heat in the Arctic and it is largely in part to the DOE, where students can learn more at places such as the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and more.
The research is also made possible thanks to the One West fundraising efforts and WT125: From the Panhandle to the World, which is WT's larger plan.
