Welcome to my site! This site is an expression of my professional and personal interests. If you would like to contact me about any of them, please email me at Christa.Hasenkopf@gmail.com.
I am an atmospheric scientist living in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia – the world’s coldest capital in the world’s most sparsely populated country! From March 2011 until April 2013, I am studying air pollution in Ulaanbaatar though funding from a U.S. Fulbright Grant and an NSF International Research Postdoctoral Fellowship. Why Ulaanbaatar? It turns out that Ulaanbaatar (UB, for short) is one of the most polluted cities in the world by ambient PM levels! As part of that effort, I’ve created and maintain a UB air pollution wiki, which coalesces all things UB air pollution-related. I’ve also been working on outreach projects that enable university students and other young leaders in the Ulaanbaatar community to teach atmospheric science and communicate the seriousness of air pollution in UB with local secondary school students through fun, hands-on activities. Want to learn more? Check out the Ulaanbaatar Atmospheric Science Club - UBASC, for short. We’d love to have you join!
I also maintain a blog on the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Environmental Sciences site at the University of Colorado, sharing my research and personal experiences in Mongolia.
Recently, Prof. Lodoysamba, his research team, and I have been collaborating together on a PEER study on air pollution source appointment and health impact in Ulaanbaatar, as well as running the first and only social media pages (on Facebook and Twitter) that communicate basic air quality information and data on UB air pollution (Click here to learn why this is so important). In December 2012, we in the Lodoysamba group received a grant from Oyu Tolgoi to purchase and maintain our own automatically tweeting and facebooking instrument!
Last, but not least, I am interested in science policy, particularly how it relates to the development of science programs in higher education and how to connect scientists with meaningful public service opportunities, both in the U.S. and abroad.
Mongolia can be eyelash-freezing cold in the winter!
The opinions and views expressed on this site are solely those of the author and do not reflect those of the U.S. Department of State, the National Science Foundation, the Fulbright Program, or the University of Colorado.
Last updated January 2013.