Members of Mark Zondlo’s lab used a suite of gas sensors to monitor air quality on Hawaii’s Big Island during the summer 2018 eruption of the Kilauea volcano. Here, graduate student Levi Golston adjusts the sensors, which are mounted atop a car and powered by car batteries. Photo by Lei Tao
Mark Zondlo’s research team has tracked greenhouse gases and air pollutants on the streets of Beijing and New York City, around Pennsylvania gas wells, and near animal feedlots in Colorado and California.
These experiments typically take six months of planning, but this year the lab geared up quickly for a time-sensitive mission: monitoring air quality on Hawaii’s Big Island during the large eruption of the Kilauea volcano. Between May and August, lava flows destroyed around 700 homes. About 2,500 residents evacuated areas close to the active fissures, and many experienced breathing problems from the volcanic ash and gases.
