Guest Speaker, Regan Thomson, Ph.D., Northwestern University

Volatile terpenes emitted from the world’s forests play a significant role in the formation of atmospheric aerosol particles, which in turn influence climate, air quality, and human health through a variety of direct and indirect mechanisms. Despite the importance of these aerosol particles, they remain poorly understood and constitute the largest degree of uncertainty in climate models. Recent studies have also led to the development of a novel biosphere–atmosphere feedback loop hypothesis whereby plants may be altering the emission of biogenic terpenes to enhance rainfall during drought conditions. This lecture will describe efforts within my lab towards the synthesis of putative biogenic terpene-derived constituents of atmospheric aerosol particles in order to confirm their identities and explore their climate relevant physical properties. Recent advances in the synthesis of isotopically-labeled pinene derivatives that are driving collaborative investigations into the complex oxidation pathways of terpenes in the atmosphere will also be presented along with ongoing efforts exploring the role of chirality in the atmosphere.

Regan J. Thomson was born in New Zealand in 1976, and received his Ph.D. in 2003 at The Australian National University where he worked for Prof. Lewis N. Mander. Following postdoctoral studies at Harvard University with Prof. David A. Evans, he joined the faculty at Northwestern University in 2006 where he is currently a Professor of Chemistry. Regan’s research interests include natural product synthesis and discovery, and atmospheric chemistry. He is the recipient of an NSF CAREER Award, an Amgen Young Investigator Award, a Novartis Lectureship, and an Illinois Division American Cancer Society Research Scholar Award. At Northwestern he has been named a Charles Deering Professor of Teaching Excellence and awarded the Provost Award for Exemplary Faculty Service.