Faye McNeill studies aerosols, small liquid or solid particles floating in the atmosphere. Each cubic centimeter of air contains hundreds or thousands of these particles – some of them are natural (e.g., dust from dry regions or salt from the ocean) and others are released into the air by human activity, e.g., by cars or factories that burn fossil fuels.

Faye, a professor of chemical engineering at Columbia University, studies how aerosols form and evolve, how they influence climate, and how they affect human health. Over the last few months, the coronavirus pandemic has moved the aerosol science community into the international research spotlight, raising many urgent questions about aerosol transmission and COVID-19. These questions were the original motivation for the special episode with Faye, and near the end (at about 1:16) the conversation eventually turns to the pandemic.

But the way the conversation went, most of it is just about Faye’s life and career. Some topics Faye and Adam talk about are the challenge of teaching students how to do research; how important a few words of encouragement from a good mentor can be; and how Faye evolved, step by step, from a young scientist who was intensely focused on the technical challenges of her research, to someone who now sees a much bigger picture of its place in society and has consciously broadened her portfolio in order to make it more directly useful to people.

“And right away we basically identified that as a community, from our own research experience and expertise, we had a suite of tools, things that we could help a city with that’s interested in improving its air pollution. And beyond the technical work there is also this big element of capacity building. “

The interview with Faye McNeill was recorded in May 2020.