Rosa Fitzgerald

University of Texas, El Paso

Professor, Physics

Bio: Dr. Rosa Fitzgerald is a Professor of Physics. She obtained an M.S in Physics from Adelphi University, N.Y., and a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California, Riverside. She has had post-doctoral experiences at the University of California, Irvine, and at the Center for Environmental Research, CE-CERT. She was also a Faculty Fellow at JPL/NASA and a research affiliate at that laboratory for several years. She is currently the UTEP representative of an NOAA consortium of Universities throughout the U.S and the UTEP/NCAR representative. In addition, she is a contributing faculty member to the UTEP ESE Ph.D. Program and to the UTEP Computational Sciences Ph.D. Program.

2022-08 Abstract Title: Air Pollution in Desert and Nearby Metropolitan Areas

Abstract Body: Particulate matter in desert cities contains significant amounts of mineral dust and soot. Mineral dust results from wind dislodging loose matter from the Earth’s surface while in regions, such as the American West, a significant fraction of soot results from wildfires. Mineral dust and soot affect climate through their effects on solar radiation. Mineral dust may scatter solar radiation, while soot absorbs radiation, warming Earth. Both mineral dust and soot have some effects on cloud formation. Our air pollution methodologies and results are presented.