EMSL Aerosols Researcher Earns Inaugural Early Career Award as Part of ALS User Meeting

Early in his graduate school journey, Chemist Swarup China had plans to become an environmental engineer.

He enjoyed learning about and building different capabilities and tools for use in laboratory settings. But part of the way through his graduate tenure, he was introduced to the world of atmospheric aerosols research by his graduate school mentors.

China said his mentors not only served as exceptional educators but also led in demonstrating good research ethics. He has learned from the likes of Mary Gilles of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Daniel Knopf of the Advanced Light Source, Claudio Mazzoleni of Michigan Technological University, and Alexander Laskin with Purdue University. He views all of them as leaders in the atmospheric aerosols research field.

“My mentors helped me get to where I am today,” he said. “If I didn’t have good mentors, I would not be a scientist today.”

China, integrated research platform leader for Terrestrial-Atmospheric Processes at the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, is now being recognized for his career contributions as part of the 2024 Advanced Light Source (ALS) User Meeting.

China will receive the ALS User Meeting’s inaugural Early Career Award on Aug. 13, where he will also present a talk on his research. The award recognizes significant contributions from early career investigators who have performed original and independent research at ALS. To be considered for the award, researchers must be less than 12 years from earning their highest degree.

“I honestly didn’t expect it,” China said of earning the award. “The first thing that comes to mind is that this is an award for the group and not just me. It’s recognition for the long hours we have all put in for new science findings. I hope to continue helping ALS in collaboration with EMSL to conduct new and greater science.”

China’s research focuses specifically on atmospheric aerosol properties and processes, atmospheric aerosol chemistry, heterogeneous ice nucleation, and aerosol-cloud interactions. He studies the chemical aging of atmospheric particles through multi-phase atmospheric chemistry. Additionally, he studies the effect of physicochemical properties of complex atmospheric particles on aerosol microphysical properties and cloud development.

Throughout the last several years, China has worked extensively with ALS, using scanning transmission X-ray microscopy with near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (STXM-NEXAFS) at EMSL in combination with ALS beamlines. This work has resulted in more than 30 peer-reviewed articles using the capabilities.

Tamas Varga, a materials scientist at EMSL, nominated China for the award. He said his work and contributions in partnership with ALS speak for themselves.

When China started using STXM-NEXAFS in his research, he contributed to a study published in Nature Geoscience in 2016 that showed how rain triggers the release of a mist of particles from wet soils into the air. This showed issues with how scientists model Earth’s present and future climate.

Later, he investigated the atmosphere of the Amazon Rainforest to try and solve a long-standing mystery of sodium salts in the rainforest. The research led by China found that fungal spores were the main culprit of major sources of sodium salt in the Amazon—findings published in Nature Communications in 2018.

More recently, China’s and his team’s work using STXM-NEXAFS with mass spectrometry and multimodal chemical imaging techniques showed the dynamics of wildfire-emitted particles by investigating the chemical composition, mixing state, and phase state of the particles. His team’s work was highlighted on the cover of Environmental Science: Atmospheres in 2023.

“Swarup is not only passionate about performing his research; he also introduced and trained several of his team members to apply STXM for their research, and most of them are independent users now,” Varga said. “He has been a great advocate for the STXM-NEXAFS.”

China said he feels fortunate to collaborate with scientific institutions such as ALS. Through his partnership, he and his colleagues have made significant strides in learning more about both light and heavy elements of aerosol composition through multimodal imaging.

“The power of these instruments and labs working together makes a big impact by allowing for a more complete picture of the particle chemistry,” he said.

Looking toward the future of his research field, China said the best is yet to come. He said he looks forward to the progress that he and his colleagues at EMSL are making in partnership with ALS in designing experiments and capabilities that will allow them to simulate real-world atmospheric conditions in the laboratory. Additionally, automation advancements will also allow them to analyze many more particles and draw even stronger conclusions, he said.

When thinking about the meaning of the ALS Early Career Award, China said he can’t help but reference the contributions of the people that made it possible. He said he wants to give special thanks to the many mentors and colleagues that have made his own scientific success possible.

“A lot of credit goes to them,” he said.

China said he continuously strives to apply what he learned and gained from his mentors to mentees of his own.

“I think that is honestly one of the most rewarding parts of the job—serving as a mentor,” he said. “I know from experience what a difference a mentor can make. I just hope I can make my own mentors proud by passing along what I have learned from them to the next generation of scientists.”