Relevant Experiences
- As an undergraduate student at Harvard I spent several years helping Professor Michael B. McElroy (Al Gore’s mentor on climate science) with research, graphics and editing of a new textbook on the Atmosphere. Later I twice I served as a Teaching Fellow for Professors Michael B. McElroy and Brian Farrell’s course EPS 5, Introduction to Environmental Science: Atmosphere, Ocean & Biosphere”. I prepared and graded half the homework assignments and also taught discussion sections and review classes. As a doctoral student at MIT I served as a Teaching Assistant for three courses: 12.815, Atmospheric Radiation, taught by Ronald Prinn and Robert McClatchey; 12.806 Atmospheric Physics taught by Ronald Prinn and Gregory McRae; and 12.848, Global Climate Change: Economics, Science, and Policy, taught by Ronald Prinn and Henry Jacoby. Again I prepared and graded homework assignments and taught discussion sections and review classes.
- When I was a postdoc at MIT Ron Prinn and I co-designed and then co-taught a new course, 12.335 Experimental Atmospheric Chemistry. I drafted the syllabus, helped design renovations for a new teaching laboratory, researched instrument choices, and handled their ordering and receiving. I taught six lectures, designed and led three out of four major field trips, wrote the homework and lab assignments, and chaired a comprehensive evaluation meeting.
- While carrying out my doctoral field research in the Kathmandu Valley I worked closely with three hired field assistants and five student volunteers who were then pursuing Master’s degrees at Tribhuvan University’s Central Department of Environmental Sciences, and whom I subsequently mentored further. Out of the eight, one field assistant and four student volunteers went on to complete doctoral degrees.
- Since 2009, when I started a faculty position at the University of Virginia, I have served as advisor, co-advisor, co-supervisor, co-guide or external examiner to a number of Masters and PhD students enrolled at the University of Virginia, at AIT in Bangkok, at the School for Environmental science and Management in Kathmandu, at Banaras Hindu University in India, at IIT Kanpur in India and at Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu. I have also mentored more than a dozen interns and research assistants at ICIMOD and IIDS.
- Meanwhile, I have also been an organizer or co-organizer of several week-long training courses. In December 2008 and again in March 2011 I was Co-Director of the Atmospheric Brown Cloud Training School, giving lectures and teaching hands-on instrument operation and data interpretation to several dozen students. In 2015 I hosted a week long course at ICIMOD for journalists wishing to learn to report on air pollution. Also at ICIMOD, I oversaw the production of two children’s books on air pollution, starting with teaching the relevant science to authors and illustrators. From 2018 to 2020 I taught a lecture to visiting students from New York University Abu Dhabi every January.
Photo by Subasana Shrestha
- Finally, at Ullens education Foundation I have worked with the entire team to deliver excellence in education even as we transitioned in and out of Covid lockdowns and virtual teaching modes. I also feel fortunate to be leading the planning for a new college.