All About Me

Aaron is a NASA postdoctoral fellow who joined the Ponce Group in the fall of 2009.  His research interests focus on the chemistry and climate of Earth and other potentially habitable places.  His current work involves investigating the ability of life to survive extreme climates here on Earth by determining the viability of bacterial spores from environmental samples such as ice cores and desert soil.  In addition, he is helping to improve and automate the bacterial spore viability assay developed in the Ponce labs.  Aaron did his Ph.D. work in the groups of Professor Mitchio Okumura (Caltech) and Dr. Stan Sander (JPL), studying the chemical composition of the atmosphere by measuring the kinetics and thermodynamics of peroxy radical reactions.  For fun he enjoys doing all things mountain or beach related including hiking, surfing and snowboarding, as well as just relaxing at home.

education

Ph.D. Chemistry, California Institute of Technology, 2010

B.A.  Chemistry, New York University, 2002

publications

Measurements of the C2H5O2 + HO2 rate constant, the C2H5O2 self reaction rate constant, and the C2H5O2 self reaction branching fraction.  Noell, A.C.; Alconcel, L.N.; Robichaud, D.J.; Okumura, M.; Sander, S.P.  Submitted.

The reaction of HO2 + CH3C(O)CH3 at atmospheric temperatures.  Grieman, F.J.; Noell, A.C.; Okumura, M.; Sander, S.P.  In preparation.

Measurements of the C2H5O2 self reaction branching ratio using photoionization mass spectrometry.  Noell, A.C.; Grieman, F.J.; Okumura, M.; Sander, S.P.; Taatjes, C.A.; Osborn, D.L.  In preparation.

conference proceedings

Nordic-NASA Astrobiology Summer School Participant, Iceland, July 2009.

Measurements of the RO2 + RO2 self reaction kinetics and radical product channel branching fraction.  Atmospheric Chemical Mechanism Conference, Davis, CA, 2008.

Evidence for photoinduced nucleation: Does the HO2 radical play a role?  Atmospheric Chemical Mechanism Conference, Davis, CA, 2008.

Near-IR kinetic spectroscopy (IRKS) of HO2 and C2H5O2 self and cross reactions.  Northwest/Rocky Mountain Regional American Chemical Society Meeting, Park City, UT, 2008.

Near-IR kinetic spectroscopy (IRKS) of HO2 and C2H5O2 self and cross reactions.  American Chemical Society Spring Meeting, New Orleans, LA, 2008.

Kinetics measurements of HO2 and RO2 self and cross reactions using infrared kinetic spectroscopy (IRKS).  Ohio St. University 62nd International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy, OH, 2007.

Kinetics of C2H5O2 + HO2 and C2H5O2 + C2H5O2.  Western Spectroscopy Association, Asilomar, CA, 2007.

Peroxy radical kinetics using infrared kinetic spectroscopy (IRKS): C2H5O2 + HO2.  American Chemical Society Spring Meeting, Atlanta, GA, 2006.