Sloan Foundation MoBE Postdoctoral Fellow
Sloan Foundation MoBE Postdoctoral Fellow
Ph.D., Engineering Sciences, Harvard University, 2015
M.Sc., Environmental Sciences, Peking University, China, 2008
B.Eng., Environmental Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China, 2005
atmospheric chemistry; indoor air chemistry.
I am interested in the life cycle of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the environment. I work to understand where the VOCs come, how they react in the air, and how the VOC chemistry contributes to aerosol formation and affects air quality.
My postdoc work focuses on indoor environment. I am making time- and space-resolved VOC measurement in residences in the bay area, to understand the sources and dynamic behaviors of indoor VOCs. I am also using inert VOC tracers to study ventilation and interzonal air flow, which regulate the concentrations of indoor pollutants. My postdoc work is co-advised by Professor Allen Goldstein in the ESPM department and Professor William Nazaroff in the CEE department.
My graduate work in the Scot Martin group at Harvard focused on atmospheric chemistry of isoprene, the dominant biogenic VOC emitted from the Earth. In the lab, I characterized products and yields of isoprene photooxdation via multiple reaction pathways and studied reactive uptake of the gas-phase products by sulfate particles. By applying the technique I developed in the lab to field observation, I further examined how human activities can influence the gas-phase chemistry of isoprene over the Amazon tropical forests.
Y. Liu, R. Seco, S. Kim, A. B. Guenther, A. H. Goldstein, F. N. Keutsch, S. R. Springston, T. B. Watson, P. Artaxo, R. A. F. Souza, K. A. McKinney, S. T. Martin, Isoprene photo-oxidation products quantify the effect of pollution on hydroxyl radicals over Amazonia. Sci. Adv. 4 (2018) .
Y. Liu, J. Brito, M. R. Dorris, J. C. Rivera-Rios, R. Seco, K. H. Bates, P. Artaxo, S. Duvoisin, F. N. Keutsch, S. Kim, A. H. Goldstein, A. B. Guenther, A. O. Manzi, R. A. F. Souza, S. R. Springston, T. B. Watson, K. A. McKinney, S. T. Martin, Isoprene photochemistry over the Amazon rainforest. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 113, 6125–6130 (2016).
Y. Liu†, M. Kuwata†, K. A. McKinney, S. T. Martin, Uptake and release of gaseous species accompanying the reactions of isoprene photo-oxidation products with sulfate particles. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 18, 1595–1600 (2016).
M. Kuwata, Y. Liu, K. McKinney, S. T. Martin, Physical state and acidity of inorganic sulfate can regulate the production of secondary organic material from isoprene photooxidation products. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 17, 5670–5678 (2015).
Y. Liu, M. Kuwata, B. F. Strick, F. M. Geiger, R. J. Thomson, K. A. McKinney, S. T. Martin, Uptake of epoxydiol isomers accounts for half of the particle-phase material produced from isoprene photooxidation via the HO2 pathway. Environ. Sci. Technol. 49, 250–258 (2015).
Y. J. Liu, I. Herdlinger-Blatt, K. A. McKinney, S. T. Martin, Production of methyl vinyl ketone and methacrolein via the hydroperoxyl pathway of isoprene oxidation. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 13, 5715–5730 (2013).
Q. Chen, Y. Liu, N. M. Donahue, J. E. Shilling, S. T. Martin, Particle-phase chemistry of secondary organic material: modeled compared to measured O:C and H:C elemental ratios provide constraints. Environ. Sci. Technol. 45, 4763–4770 (2011).
Y. J. Liu, T. Zhu, D. F. Zhao, Z. F. Zhang, Investigation of the hygroscopic properties of Ca(NO(3))(2) and internally mixed Ca(NO(3))(2)/CaCO(3) particles by micro-Raman spectrometry. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 8, 7205–7215 (2008).
Contact details
Yingjun Liu
Department of Environmental Science, Policy, & Management
UC Berkeley
130 Mulford Hall #3114
Berkeley, CA 94720