My research

“We may, however, look to the experiments for facts from which to reason, and for processes which will enable us to understand the grander workings of nature.”

John Aitken, “On dust, fogs, and clouds”, Nature, 1880

My main research interest are atmospheric aerosols: Tiny airborne particles with huge impacts on climate and air quality – two topics that are of imminent importance for society and the environment. Aerosols are at the interface of the different spheres of the planet and the different phases in the atmosphere, and thus key to understanding biogeochemical processes. The characterization of the chemical composition of (organic) aerosol particles and organic trace gases by means of advanced mass spectrometric techniques, and the investigation of their sources, formation and transformation processes, and fate in the atmosphere in the field and laboratory, lie at the heart of my research.