CHEM 302

Case Studies - 2017

Case Study Sessions: Friday’s 1:30 – 2:20 pm B370-243 (attendance mandatory)

Tentative Schedule

Student seminar presentations and discussion on a current environmental issue related to Atmospheric Chemistry.

Friday, Sept 29th     The Mysterious Case of Atmospheric Pollutants in Far Away Places - Erik Krogh

Friday, Oct 6th      Stratospheric dichloromethane could delay ozone recovery by       decades - Sara Guzmann

Friday, Oct 13th        During heat waves, urban trees can increase ground level ozone - Jeremy Kalicum

Friday, Oct 20th      Drug sniffing car knows where your drugs are - Arden Hessels

Looking for methane leaks - Joseph Monaghan

Friday, Oct 27th    Lifting the fog on Chinas unwieldy air pollution problem - Tiger Zhoa

Do diesel vehicles cause poor air quality? - Evan Hessels

Friday, Nov 3rd    Hungry ghost festival behind air quality decline in Singapore - Daniel Osborne

Air pollution more deadly in Africa than malnutrition or dirty water - Heather Wilson

Friday, Nov 10th    Indoor air in schools could add to children’s exposure to PCBs -   Manti Burke

Radon in basement - Lukas Miner

Friday, Nov 17th    Guest Speaker - Dr Julie Saxton (MetroVancouver Air Quality)

 

Friday, Nov, 24th    Water nanostructures disinfect air - Alistair Burns

Aurora borealis - it's gas molecules you know - Misha Zvekic

 

Friday, Dec 1st        Storing carbon dioxide underground by turning it into rock - Trevor Michalchuk

Carbon dioxide-to-methanol catalyst ignites ‘fuel from air’ debate - Gabriel Kleijn

 

Suggested Case Study Topics (unclaimed):

How cars could meet future emission standards

Selecting the right house plants could improve indoor air

Scientists partner with Google Earth Outreach to analyze methane leaks in US cities

Climate change poised to push up mercury in food chain

Sources and legislative control of PM 2.5 pollution

Air pollution health: knowledge gained from Umea, London and Beijing

Air pollution and traffic: Searching for the missing emissions

Air quality advisory issued for MetroVancouver and Fraser Valley

UK citizens are taking air pollution monitoring into their own hands

How to measure potentially damaging free radicals in cigarette smoke

Keeping cool in summer leads to increased air pollution

Radon gas policy challenge for Canada

Learning to love CO2

City air

Subway air pollution damages passenger health

Air pollution model predicts 6.6 million deaths by 2050

NASA show human impact on atmosphere with pollution maps

Canada to match US on curbing HFCs

UK citizens taking air pollution monitoring into their own hands

Air pollution deadlier than malnutrition or dirty water in Africa

Smog eating paint does more harm than good

 

Objectives of Case Study Seminars:

 Responsibilities of discussion leader:

 Possible sources of information:

See for example;  Science News      Science Daily      Canada.com

Try search terms like - 'air pollution', 'air quality' or 'atmospheric chemistry'

Other Useful Links: 

American Chemical Society News Releases

Royal Society of Chemistry - Chemistry World

Environment Canada

Health Canada

US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)

NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

VIU Libary Login access for:

Chemical & Engineering News (Environmental SCENE articles) via VIU Library Login to Environmental Science and Technology (Online News)

 

Grading:

Organization, Clarity and Research          /3 

Chemistry Content and Context                 /3

General Interest and Discussion               /4

 

 

Examples of Past Case Study Title page with Reading Citation Format

Case Study #1:  The Mysterious Case of Pollutants in Far Away Places