Department of Chemistry
Abdulla Moussa
Biography
I'm a PhD research student based in Wolfson Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratories (WACL) at the University of York, working with Professor Jacqui Hamilton and Dr James Hopkins on understanding the changing sources of VOCs in the UK over the last two decades and implication in the future research project.
I've done a Masters in Air Pollution Management and Control at the University of Birmingham which has inspired me to go ahead with research in atmospheric chemistry at WACL. I have seven years of diversified experience in the environmental field in varied roles that involved environmental studies, air quality monitoring and air dispersion modelling. I enjoy teaching chemistry, atmospheric physics, and Arabic as a foreign language.
Qualifications
BSc in Biochemistry, MSc Air Pollution Management and Control
Memberships and Fellowships
Royal Society of Chemistry
Research interests
Ambient air quality, traffic related pollution, ozone precursors
Teaching interests
Atmospheric chemistry and atmospheric physics
Project title
Understanding the changing sources of VOCs in the UK over the last two decades and implication in the future
Supervisors
Funding
Leeds York NERC Panorama Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP)
Project outline
Volatile organic compounds play important roles in the atmosphere via three main pathways: photochemical ozone formation, secondary organic aerosol production, and direct toxicity to humans in addition to their impacts on the environment, where different VOCs produce different secondary pollutants, as a result of their oxidation in the atmosphere, depending on their structure which is directly related to their sources. Hence making observations of individual VOCs in the atmosphere and identify the significance of different localised sources to their ambient concentrations is very important.
Moreover, comparing the data that will be collected from three supersites (London, Manchester, and Birmingham) with historical UK data is essential to evaluate the changing composition of the contributions of individual source sectors to the ambient VOCs over the last twenty years. Consequently, this will improve the effectiveness in predicting ambient levels of VOCs in the UK.
