Raymond Pierson

Rising Senior
Bio-environmental Engineering
Cornell University
CEINT Research Site: Marr Lab- Virginia Tech University

I am a rising senior from Cornell University studying Bio-environmental Engineering. I was attracted to the REU program with CEINT because of its research investigating the life cycle of potential contaminants and their possible toxicological effects. Nanoparticles are particularly interesting potential contaminants to study because their small size makes them behave in unique ways and their high surface area to volume ratio makes them more reactive for a given mass than larger particles. In Professor Marr's lab at Virginia Tech, I will study engineered nanoparticles emitted from commercial products using nanomaterials and how they behave in the atmosphere. Of particular interest is how the nanoparticles change or effect changes in the atmosphere though interactions with other materials.