Department of Environmental Sciences
Department of Environmental Sciences
Sally Pusede

Sally Pusede

Associate Professor
sep6a@virginia.edu
434 924-0544
Office Address/Hours
394 Clark Hall
https://pusede.evsc.virginia.edu/

Education

Ph.D. University of California Berkeley, 2014

Research

I am an atmospheric chemist with broad interests in air quality and climate change. I am also Co-Director of the Repair Lab, an interdisciplinary environmental justice lab at UVA. My atmospheric chemistry research group in the Department of Environmental Sciences makes and uses measurements at the Earth’s surface, from aircraft, and space in polluted cities, agricultural areas, and forest canopies. Our focus is on reactive nitrogen, its role in chemical oxidation, its neighborhood-level variability, and emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide. We use observed spatial and temporal variability to derive mechanistic insight into processes taking place within cities and human-influenced environments. We work to find solutions to atmospheric problems that adversely affect human health and ecosystems.

Selected Awards

  • Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), Biden Administration, 2024
  • Future Horizons in Climate Science Turco Lectureship, American Geophysical Union, 2022
  • National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, 2021  
  • NASA New Investigator Program Award, 2021 
  • Environmental Sciences Organization Faculty Teaching Award, University of Virginia, 2016 

Publications

  • Epps, A., Dressel, I. M., Guo, X., Odanibe, M., Fields, K. P., Carlton, A. M. G., Sun, K., and Pusede, S. E.: Satellite observations of atmospheric ammonia inequalities associated with industrialized swine facilities in Eastern North Carolina, Environ. Sci. Technol., 59, 5, 2651–2664, 2025.
  • Dressel, I. M., Zhang, S., Demetillo, M. A. G., Yu, S., Fields, K. P., Judd, L. M., Nowlan, C. R., Sun K., Kotsakis, A., Turner, A. J., and Pusede, S. E.: Neighborhood-level nitrogen dioxide inequalities contribute to surface ozone in Houston, Texas, Environ. Sci. Technol.–Air, 1, 9, 973–988, 2024.
  • Fields, K. P., Miller, T. K., Wood, A., Kirts, L., Jones, M., and Pusede, S. E.: Practicing Repair: Advancing community-based solutions on coal dust pollution in Hampton Roads, Virginia through a practitioner-in-residence program, Environ. Justice, 2024.
  • West, J. J., Nolte, C. G., Bell, M. L., Fiore, A. M., Georgopoulos, P. G., Hess, J. J., Mickley, L. J., O’Neill, S. M., Pierce, J. R., Pinder, R. W., Pusede, S. E., Shindell, D. T., and Wilson, S. M.: Chapter 14. Air Quality. In: Fifth National Climate Assessment. Crimmins, A. R. , Avery, C. W., Easterling, D. R., Kunkel, K. E., Stewart, B. C., and Maycock, T. K. Eds. U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, USA. 2023
  • Dressel, I. M., Demetillo, M. G. D., Judd, L. M., Janz, S. J., Fields, K. P., Sun, K., Fiore, A. M., McDonald, B. C., and Pusede, S. E.: Daily satellite observations of nitrogen dioxide air pollution inequality in New York City, New York and Newark, New Jersey: Evaluation and application, Environ. Sci. Technol., 56, 22, 15298–15311, 2022
  • Demetillo, M. A. G., Harkins, C., McDonald, B. C., Chodrow, P. S., Sun, K., and Pusede, S. E.: Space-based observational constraints on NO2 air pollution inequality from diesel traffic in major U.S. cities, Geophys. Res. Lett., 48, e2021GL094333, 2021
  • Herrera, S. A., Diskin, G. S., Harward, C., Sachse, G., Yang, M., Choi, Y., De Wekker, S. F. J., Wisthaler, A., Mallia, D. V., and Pusede, S. E.: Wintertime nitrous oxide emissions in the San Joaquin Valley of California estimated from aircraft observations, Environ. Sci. Technol., 55, 8, 4462–4473, 2021
  • Demetillo, M. A. G., Navarro, A., Knowles, K. K., Fields, K. P., Geddes, J. A., Nowlan, C. R., Sun, K., Judd, L. M., Al-Saadi, J., Diskin, G. S., McDonald, B. C., and Pusede, S. E.: Observing nitrogen dioxide air pollution inequality using high-resolution remote sensing measurements in Houston, Texas, Environ. Sci. Technol., 54, 16, 9882–9895, 2020
  • Demetillo, M. A. G., Anderson, J. F., Geddes, J. A., Najacht, E., Herrera, S. A., Kabasares, K., Kotsakis, A., Yang, X., Lerdau, M T., and Pusede, S. E.: Observing severe drought influences on ozone air pollution in California, Environ. Sci. Technol., 5, 39, 4695–4706, 2019

Teaching

  • EVSC 4380 Air Pollution and Environmental Justice
  • EVSC 4490/7490 Air Pollution
  • EVSC 5350 Atmospheric Chemistry
  • EVSC 3300 Atmosphere and Weather