Jay R. Turner's
research helps set appropriate air-quality standards
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Jay R. Turner's research helps set appropriate air-quality standards |
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A breath of fresh air
As director of the University's Air Quality Laboratory, Jay R. Turner digs in on analyzing pollution By Tony Fitzpatrick In between coordinating air quality measurements throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area and managing two major studies funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Jay R. Turner, D.Sc., is winning awards for the quality of his teaching and advising the University.
He teaches a suite of courses, mainly in environmental engineering, and has been involved with the school's Environmental Engineering Program since its inception in the mid-1990s. Turner is a bundle of energy who radiates knowledge and caring. When he speaks to a class or an audience, he has the capacity to make every person in the room feel that he is directing his attention to that individual only. He brings passion, purpose and an unrelenting persistence to his research. Turner directs the University's Air Quality Laboratory (AQL), which conducts research into various issues in air pollution characterization and control. Recent projects have addressed the contributions of tire wear to airborne particulate matter, how charcoal manufacturers can prevent pollution, and how forests -- such as the Ozarks in Missouri -- contribute to air pollution by releasing organic compounds that react in the atmosphere to form smog. In the winter of 2000, Turner became principal investigator of two major EPA pollution studies, one of air, the other of water. The water-pollution project, managed in collaboration with the Electric Power Research Institute Community Environmental Center (EPRI-CEC), which is housed in the engineering school at Washington University, funds several institutions to address various facets of decentralized waste-water treatment. Turner works closely with Raymond Ehrhard of EPRI-CEC, who chairs the steering committee for the project, to provide the organizational framework and ensure the scientific integrity of this effort. On the air-pollution front, the EPA designated Washington University as the lead institution, with Turner as principal investigator, for a major air-pollutant characterization study. The St. Louis-Midwest Supersite monitors airborne fine-particle matter in the St. Louis metropolitan area with emphasis on high time resolution. It involves a nationwide consortium of nine universities and research institutes. The project began in January 2000 and runs through December 2003 and was initially funded at about $3.5 million. Measurements at the field sites started in April 2001 and were originally scheduled to end this month, but additional funding from a variety of sources will enable field measurements to be conducted for at least another year.
"There also are immense benefits for the Midwest in general and the St. Louis region in particular, as we will have a better grasp of our particulate-matter air-pollutant burdens and can be responsive to the need for coming into compliance with air-quality standards." Turner's professional staff, graduate research assistants and undergraduate research assistants are solely responsible for a subset of the measurements and also provide the day-to-day field operations support to all collaborators. "It is a wonderful opportunity for our students," Turner said, "because they not only have their own measurements focus but also the opportunity to routinely interact with top-notch researchers from across the country who have deployed a battery of novel instruments at our sites." Also working with Turner are three other Washington University colleagues, all veteran air-pollution researchers. They are Edward S. Macias, Ph.D., an atmospheric chemist who also is executive vice chancellor and dean of Arts & Sciences; Rudolf Husar, Ph.D., director of the University's Center for Air Pollution Impact and Trends Analysis (CAPITA); and Warren White, Ph.D., research associate in chemistry and a CAPITA researcher. "This trio of hard-core aerosol jocks is one of the reasons I came to Washington University," Turner said. "Warren is a cornerstone of our Supersite program and a great mentor to me; indeed, I hold my weekly lunch with him of highest personal and professional value." The Supersite air quality measurements are integrated with three large health-effects programs, which conduct studies into the relationships between various pollutants and human illnesses ranging from cardiovascular disease to pulmonary illnesses.
Turner's recent interest in air quality measurements to support health-effects studies is a natural evolution of his ongoing interest in the interface between engineering and policy. "The policy implications of science and engineering research -- that twist is what has driven most of my research," he said. Turner received hands-on public-policy training directly after earning a doctorate from Washington University in 1993. He spent eight months working with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) in Washington, D.C., focusing on implementation of both technical and policy aspects of joint DOT/EPA regulations that emerged from the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. Turner is the son of an engineer father and an elementary school teacher mother who also ran a gift shop, among other things. He was born in the Amish country of Pennsylvania, about 30 miles from State College. With Pennsylvania being a commonwealth, citizens were elected to be justices of the peace, as was Turner's mother. "People were constantly dropping by for my mother to notarize documents. Periodically she would conduct marriage ceremonies in our living room," Turner said, matter-of-factly. The family moved to Foster City, Calif. -- a suburb of San Francisco -- where Turner, the youngest of three siblings, developed his passions for music, sailing and cooking. He attended a high school that had strong science teachers who challenged him and, along with his father, influenced him to become an engineer. Turner earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, in chemical engineering and became interested in air-quality research while working in the laboratory of Sheldon Friedlander, a world-renowned aerosols expert. Turner met current chemical engineering chair Milorad (Mike) Dudukovic, Ph.D., the Laura and William Jens Professor of Environmental Engineering, while he was a visiting professor at UCLA, and later worked under him at Washington University for his doctorate. "Jay established himself as a world-class researcher in the aerosol field early in his career," Dudukovic said. "His early work is cited to this day. Jay's focus on important problems and his excellent reputation in environmental engineering have enabled him to secure multiyear funding of significant magnitude as a principal investigator on two major projects. "While being a superb and outstanding teacher-educator and a dedicated researcher with vision, Jay has excelled also in his service to the department, school and the profession." Turner cites Dudukovic as a significant influence. "Mike is a very sincere person whom I've always admired," Turner said. "He's a world-class researcher who takes teaching very seriously. He's showed me how to strike what I feel is a nice balance between the two." Turner's wife is Sandra Wilkie, whom he met while she was pursuing a master's degree in the George Warren Brown School of Social Work. After completing graduate studies, Sandra received a Presidential Management Internship (PMI) to work at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C., and returned with Turner to St. Louis in 1994. Since that time, she has, among other things, taught graduate courses at GWB, and last year received a prestigious Children and Family Fellowship from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. "Sandy spent several months in New York City and Honolulu last year," Turner lamented, "while I was working at our field sites through the hot and humid St. Louis summer." Don't misread Turner, however, as he savors every moment spent in the field. Sandra is currently assistant to the director of the Division of Child Support Enforcement for the Missouri Department of Social Services. The couple enjoys recreational biking and sailboat racing, the latter pursued on summer weekends at nearby Lake Carlyle. Turner's vision for his research is similar to his approach to teaching -- he wants to make an immediate impact. "We hope what we are doing can be applied to current practices and regulations," he said. "Much of our work attempts to identify the critical knowledge gaps and fill them in to help decision-makers take a step forward." |
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