Ramon Jauregui ’15 and Professor of Chemistry and Environmental Science Katie Purvis Roberts
Claremont, Calif. (April 21, 2015)—Pitzer College student Ramon Jauregui ’15 will share his research on the atmospheric impact of ammonia-based compounds this week at Posters on the Hill, an event designed to help members of Congress understand the importance of undergraduate research. Hosted by the Council on Undergraduate Research, Posters on the Hill will be held on April 23 on Capitol Hill in Washington DC.
Jauregui is the first student from Pitzer’s W.M. Keck Science Department to be selected for this prestigious conference. Out of more than 500 applicants from all over the US, he is one of approximately 70 students who were chosen to present research posters to Senators, Congressional Representatives and the science press corps. He will talk about his poster, “Reactions of Alcohol Amines with Atmospheric Oxidants NOx, H2O2 and O3 Analyzed through a Particle-into-Liquid Sampler Coupled to Dual Ion Chromatographs,” with representatives from his home state of Arizona as well as California.
Jauregui’s poster outlines the findings of research he has conducted with Professor of Chemistry and Environmental Science Katie Purvis-Roberts and Jackson Dulla ’17 on gaseous alcohol amines—organic compounds derived from ammonia—that are used by coal-fired power plants to reduce the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere. The research is designed to better understand the impact of this form of carbon sequestration, specifically how gas-phase alcohol amines interact with atmospheric oxidants to form particulate matter.
Jauregui, Dulla and Purvis-Roberts conducted these experiments in an environmental chamber at the University of California, Riverside, which is designed to emulate real environmental conditions. Earlier this year, Jauregui and Dulla presented the research team’s findings at the American Chemical Society conference in Denver, CO. Jauregui will be graduating this year with a degree in biochemistry from Pitzer College.
The Council on Undergraduate Research supports and promotes high-quality undergraduate student-faculty collaborative research and scholarship. This is the 17th year the council has held Posters on the Hill.
