After securing funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, he collaborated with Aerodyne Research, a private company, to build MOM+POP and begin making detailed air pollution measurements. His team took delivery of the van in late 2023 and has been road-testing it in New York, Delaware, and Maryland before they head south to the Gulf states later this year or early next year for a project funded by the Bloomberg Philanthropies\u2019 Beyond Petrochemicals initiative.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a getting-to-know-it period,\u201d DeCarlo says of the lab. \u201cWe\u2019re doing a lot of stuff locally to really try to figure out what works and what we need to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJohns Hopkins MOM+POP van is giving researchers the data they need to hold polluters accountable and curb the production of petrochemicals,\u201d says Michael R. Bloomberg, the founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies, and the UN Secretary- General\u2019s Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions. Bloomberg funded the project because he believes it has the potential to help save countless lives.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The DeCarlo team\u2019s mission is to figure out what chemicals and particles are in our air, how much of this stuff is out there, and where it\u2019s coming from. The EPA and others monitor air quality from fixed sites, but there are drawbacks to that method. Regulatory fixed sites are expensive, which limits how many can be deployed. Data from a fixed site has its uses, but it provides, at best, a limited picture. Driving the MOM+POP mobile lab, DeCarlo can find emissions hotspots, correlate their data with factors such as wind direction, and document how far pollutants travel in the atmosphere and who might be affected.<\/p>\n![\"image](\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/JL_JHUVAN_50.jpg\")
Michael R. Bloomberg and the BP environment team look over the JHU van built with funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies \u2013 that is equipped with some of the most sensitive air quality monitors available. State-of-the-art instrumentation allows the mobile labs to measure a wide range of hazardous pollutants and particulate matter as they drive around industrial petrochemical and other pollution-heavy regions in real-time.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIt\u2019s All in the Plumbing<\/h4>\n
Earlier in the day, DeCarlo and Nault had rolled out of a leased garage space near the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus. DeCarlo drove. Nault, an assistant research scientist in the DeCarlo Lab and a research scientist with Aerodyne Research, gingerly threaded his legs around cables and a gimbal that supports a large computer monitor to take the middle spot on the bench seat. In his lap he set a wireless keyboard, where he sifted through several data displays and instrument readouts, making sure everything seemed to be online and working. His job today would be to monitor the instruments and take detailed notes as the researchers drove about the city and county. A second Ben, assistant research scientist Benjamin Werden, stayed behind in the garage to work on an instrument that they eventually will install in MOM+POP.<\/p>\n
Bolted into the van behind DeCarlo and Nault is a set of racked instruments and power units. Behind the passenger seat, there\u2019s an aerosol mass spectrometer. That one measures the size and chemical composition of particles in the air samples. There\u2019s also<\/p>\n![\"image](\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/JL_JHUVAN_14-300x200.jpg\")
\n
a proton transfer mass spectrometer, which monitors volatile organic compounds. It\u2019s coupled to a gas chromatograph that performs additional analysis and toggles measurement back and forth between itself and the proton transfer mass spectrometer. To power all of this gear, there\u2019s a portable generator and a rack of batteries. Everything produces heat, so there\u2019s an additional air conditioner unit. Wires and cables snake everywhere, and there are a lot of tubes. (Plus DeCarlo\u2019s travel mug, which bears a sticker that reads \u201cBest Dad Ever\u201d\u2014he has two sons.) The air intake on the roof juts over the van\u2019s nose, and the tubes route the air to the various instruments.<\/p>\n
When asked about the multiple research disciplines his team applies to its fieldwork, DeCarlo first says, with a faint smile, \u201cPlumbing. You think I\u2019m joking, but I\u2019m not. We draw air into instruments, and to do that, we need to put the tubes somewhere. Getting all that set up, splitting tubes from one instrument to another instrument, involves a lot of compression fittings and different materials, from copper to stainless steel to Teflon, and knowing how all those pieces fit together.\u201d He advises prospective students that if they come to his lab for a PhD, they will do fun science plus become handier around the house.<\/p>\n
The major instruments have to combine extraordinary sensitivity with sufficient ruggedness to be useable in the field. They are housed in racks equipped with shock absorbers, but DeCarlo slows the van to ease it over railroad tracks and patches of torn-up pavement. Out on the road gathering data or back in the garage, he and the Bens routinely have to be scientists one minute, engineers the next, computer techs after that, and sometimes guys with hand tools. They seem to enjoy the challenge of being researchers adept at fixing things on the fly. If a spectrometer acts up in the field, they can\u2019t send it back to the vendor. Computer glitches need to be fixed in situ. And sometimes you just have to stop and blow into the GPS.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a road trip,\u201d DeCarlo says. \u201cIt\u2019s not getting onto the interstate and putting it in cruise control and listening to some tunes. There are a couple of million dollars\u2019 worth of instruments in the back of the van that you need to be concerned about.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Northbound on Interstate 83, known locally as the Jones Falls Expressway, Nault points at the monitor where a graph showing nitrogen oxides spikes every time a truck rolls past. Out in the county on a two-lane road, they pass a BBQ joint, and DeCarlo says, \u201cThat smells good.\u201d Atmospheric scientists supplement scientific instruments with their noses. DeCarlo cycles for fitness and often finds himself wondering what instruments might reveal about something he\u2019s picked up with his onboard olfactory sensor.<\/p>\n
Around the Oregon Ridge natural gas pipeline and pumping station, the van picks up no alarming readings on methane levels. The natural gas infrastructure in the U.S. is old and leaky, especially on the East Coast. DeCarlo recalls receiving a video from Ellis Robinson<\/strong>, a Whiting School research engineer. Robinson was doing a walking survey of a pipeline right of way in a county park outside of Pittsburgh when he came upon puddles bubbling with escaped natural gas. The pipeline beneath Oregon Ridge runs under a public park too, and one day DeCarlo was able to hike along a good bit of it wearing a sampling unit in a backpack. He detected two leaks. Data from that walk went into a paper that was under revision at press time. \u201cSometimes \u2019mobile\u2019 means using your feet,\u201d he says.<\/p>\nSampling in \u2019Cancer Alley\u2019<\/h4>\n
![\"Map](\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/aa-234x300.jpg\")
Ethylene oxide (EtO) is a chemical that has its uses, especially as a disinfectant. For example, hospitals use it to sterilize things that can\u2019t be run through an autoclave, like pacemakers. Plus, it is used to manufacture detergent, plastics, other chemicals, and solvents. But you do not want it in the air you breathe. EtO is mutagenic and carcinogenic. Online information from the Union of Concerned Scientists notes: \u201cChronic exposure to EtO through inhalation is associated with the development of cancers of the white blood cells, such as non-Hodgkin lymphoma, myeloma, and lymphocytic leukemia. Studies have also shown a relationship between EtO exposure and breast cancer in women. Also, because EtO is mutagenic\u2014meaning it can change a cell\u2019s DNA\u2014children may be especially susceptible to its cancer-causing effects.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the recognized hazards, there has been little reliable monitoring of ambient atmospheric concentrations around the plants that produce or use EtO. The Environmental Protection Agency maintains some static air quality monitors, but for various reasons, they are not effective at measuring how much ethylene oxide is in the air at any given moment around or downwind of an emissions point source.<\/p>\n
In February 2023, Bloomberg Philanthropies provided support for DeCarlo and other researchers to use an Aerodyne mobile lab and a second lab they put together themselves in a rented cargo van to sample the air in a section of southeast Louisiana that bears the unenviable nickname \u201cCancer Alley.\u201d They were looking for EtO in particular, and they found it. That didn\u2019t surprise them, but the quantities did.<\/p>\n
By EPA standards, any EtO concentration of more than 11 parts per trillion constitutes a health hazard. The Johns Hopkins-led team found areas near chemical facilities that had concentrations of 40 parts per billion. That corresponds to exposure roughly 1,000 times higher than what is recommended, according to DeCarlo. Driving on surrounding roads, the researchers detected problematic EtO levels more than 10 kilometers downwind of the facilities.<\/p>\n
Robinson, the study\u2019s lead author, says, \u201cWe know very little about EtO concentrations in the atmosphere\u2014the accumulated literature on ethylene oxide is so scarce, while the societal focus on ethylene oxide is so intense\u2014and so any reports of accurate EtO concentrations are very valuable right now.\u201d The study<\/a> appeared on June 11 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology<\/em>. The EPA recently tightened restrictions on EtO emissions from commercial sterilizing facilities and chemical facilities producing ethylene oxide.<\/p>\nScience with Social Purpose<\/h4>\n
When it came time to pick a field for graduate study, DeCarlo says, \u201cI wanted to do something that involved chemistry and computation and data, and atmospheric science checked all those boxes.\u201d That started him on more than 20 years of sampling air around the world.<\/p>\n
In 2003, he collaborated with a mobile lab while doing preliminary work for his doctoral research, which resulted three years later in him on a flight over Mexico City gathering data. He had already, in 2003 or 2004 (he\u2019s a bit fuzzy on the time), worked with grad school roommates to rig up their own van and drive it around Colorado. Postdoctoral work took him to Switzerland in 2008\u201310. Werden joined him in Nepal in 2015, working to better understand the sources of air pollution in the Kathmandu Valley. A major earthquake interrupted their work, which they resumed in late 2017 and early 2018, when they and Nepalese collaborators rented a van, took out several of its bench seats, filled it with instruments and 12 lead-acid batteries, and drove around for a month gathering data.<\/p>\n
On the road in Baltimore County, we drive past McCormick & Company\u2019s spice facility, and Nault points to a section of the monitor that shows a spike in terpenes. Terpenes in the air are not a health hazard\u2014they are what make the air around McCormick smell good. They occur naturally in spices and herbs, and the spice company uses them for various products. Detect something citrusy in the air? That would be limonene. Enjoy a deep breath. It won\u2019t hurt you.<\/p>\n
As DeCarlo drives through a section of office parks, Nault says, \u201cRandom nitrogen oxide plume there.\u201d DeCarlo glances out the ![\"image](\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/JHU9751-200x300.jpg\")
window: \u201cLawn care. Weed whacker.\u201d There\u2019s a landscape crew tending the grass beside the street. We pass a landfill, and he has a look at several visible vent pipes. \u201cAll of those are spinning, so something is coming out.\u201d Behind a familiar yellow vehicle, he asks, \u201cIs that a clean school bus or a dirty school bus?\u201d Nault, who has been typing notes throughout the morning, reads aloud from the data display: \u201cTwenty. Thirty. Forty. Okay, not clean.\u201d A few minutes later, behind another public transport, Nault says, \u201cHoly crap, 300 parts per million because of that bus!\u201d He\u2019s not specific about 300 parts per million of what, but it\u2019s clearly nothing good.<\/p>\n
After about three hours, DeCarlo steers to a city recreation center, where a group of high school kids in a summer science program get a tour of the van and an explanation of the lab instruments. Then it\u2019s back to base. Nearly home, DeCarlo looks at me and says, \u201cSo, would you want to do this six days a week for a month?\u201d Days in the field are long, usually an hour or two of prep before moving out, then eight hours of gathering data, finished by a last hour or more checking out the instruments to make sure everything will be ready to go the next day.<\/p>\n
Their curiosity as scientists meshes with a sense of social purpose. DeCarlo worked in the EPA\u2019s Office of the Science Advisor as an American Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology and Policy fellow in Washington in 2010 and 2011.<\/p>\n
He says: \u201cUltimately, we try to work in areas in which the science we do can inform not just the scientific community but also be used in discussions about policy. The work we do with MOM+POP is helping to inform questions about disparate exposures for people who live at the fence line of industrial facilities and where there are opportunities to improve the assessment tools that exist from regulatory agencies like the EPA.\u201d He continues,<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always had this idea that we can use the instrumentation we have to answer important questions that are of importance not just to the scientific community but more broadly to society.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The scientists also enjoy the detective work. Nault says that puzzling something out of a one-month dataset can take two years: \u201cThere are so many different things that can impact what we\u2019re observing.\u201d<\/p>\n
DeCarlo adds, \u201cYou see something interesting, and you don\u2019t know why. You\u2019re out driving, and you see one chemical go up. Where were we when we took that reading? What was nearby? What could be causing it? You try to backtrack through the data and figure out what\u2019s going on. It\u2019s like searching for a needle in a haystack. But it\u2019s a really cool needle.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Air pollutants have met their match in environmental scientist Peter DeCarlo and his lab on wheels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":21128,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","issue-winter-2025"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Road Warriors - JHU Engineering Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The DeCarlo team\u2019s mission is to figure out what chemicals and particles are in our air, how much of this stuff is out there, and where it\u2019s coming from.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2024\/12\/road-warriors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Road Warriors - JHU Engineering Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The DeCarlo team\u2019s mission is to figure out what chemicals and particles are in our air, how much of this stuff is out there, and where it\u2019s coming from.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2024\/12\/road-warriors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"JHU Engineering Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-06T14:15:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-12-06T19:27:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/JL_JHUVAN_17-COVER-copy.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"556\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Monica Leigh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Monica Leigh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"12 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/road-warriors\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/road-warriors\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Monica Leigh\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/acfe7b0b2b4e334734cec46640d4b37c\"},\"headline\":\"Road Warriors\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-06T14:15:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-06T19:27:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/road-warriors\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":2573,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/road-warriors\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/JL_JHUVAN_17-COVER-copy.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Features\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/road-warriors\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/road-warriors\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/road-warriors\\\/\",\"name\":\"Road Warriors - JHU Engineering Magazine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/road-warriors\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/road-warriors\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/JL_JHUVAN_17-COVER-copy.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-06T14:15:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-06T19:27:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/acfe7b0b2b4e334734cec46640d4b37c\"},\"description\":\"The DeCarlo team\u2019s mission is to figure out what chemicals and particles are in our air, how much of this stuff is out there, and where it\u2019s coming from.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/road-warriors\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/road-warriors\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/road-warriors\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/JL_JHUVAN_17-COVER-copy.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/JL_JHUVAN_17-COVER-copy.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":556,\"caption\":\"Michael R. Bloomberg and the BP environment team look over the JHU van built with funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies \u2013 that is equipped with some of the most sensitive air quality monitors available. State-of-the-art instrumentation allows the mobile labs to measure a wide range of hazardous pollutants and particulate matter as they drive around industrial petrochemical and other pollution-heavy regions in real-time.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2024\\\/12\\\/road-warriors\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Road Warriors\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/\",\"name\":\"JHU Engineering Magazine\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/acfe7b0b2b4e334734cec46640d4b37c\",\"name\":\"Monica Leigh\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/453a535757449a6e5df98157a139bf964b78333c2f686d5468bf82ada8e18252?s=96&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/453a535757449a6e5df98157a139bf964b78333c2f686d5468bf82ada8e18252?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/453a535757449a6e5df98157a139bf964b78333c2f686d5468bf82ada8e18252?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Monica Leigh\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Road Warriors - JHU Engineering Magazine","description":"The DeCarlo team\u2019s mission is to figure out what chemicals and particles are in our air, how much of this stuff is out there, and where it\u2019s coming from.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2024\/12\/road-warriors\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Road Warriors - JHU Engineering Magazine","og_description":"The DeCarlo team\u2019s mission is to figure out what chemicals and particles are in our air, how much of this stuff is out there, and where it\u2019s coming from.","og_url":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2024\/12\/road-warriors\/","og_site_name":"JHU Engineering Magazine","article_published_time":"2024-12-06T14:15:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-12-06T19:27:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":556,"url":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/JL_JHUVAN_17-COVER-copy.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Monica Leigh","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Monica Leigh","Est. reading time":"12 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2024\/12\/road-warriors\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2024\/12\/road-warriors\/"},"author":{"name":"Monica Leigh","@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/#\/schema\/person\/acfe7b0b2b4e334734cec46640d4b37c"},"headline":"Road Warriors","datePublished":"2024-12-06T14:15:35+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-06T19:27:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2024\/12\/road-warriors\/"},"wordCount":2573,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2024\/12\/road-warriors\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/JL_JHUVAN_17-COVER-copy.jpg","articleSection":["Features"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2024\/12\/road-warriors\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2024\/12\/road-warriors\/","url":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2024\/12\/road-warriors\/","name":"Road Warriors - JHU Engineering Magazine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2024\/12\/road-warriors\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2024\/12\/road-warriors\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/JL_JHUVAN_17-COVER-copy.jpg","datePublished":"2024-12-06T14:15:35+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-06T19:27:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/#\/schema\/person\/acfe7b0b2b4e334734cec46640d4b37c"},"description":"The DeCarlo team\u2019s mission is to figure out what chemicals and particles are in our air, how much of this stuff is out there, and where it\u2019s coming from.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2024\/12\/road-warriors\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2024\/12\/road-warriors\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2024\/12\/road-warriors\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/JL_JHUVAN_17-COVER-copy.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/JL_JHUVAN_17-COVER-copy.jpg","width":600,"height":556,"caption":"Michael R. Bloomberg and the BP environment team look over the JHU van built with funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies \u2013 that is equipped with some of the most sensitive air quality monitors available. State-of-the-art instrumentation allows the mobile labs to measure a wide range of hazardous pollutants and particulate matter as they drive around industrial petrochemical and other pollution-heavy regions in real-time."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2024\/12\/road-warriors\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Road Warriors"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/#website","url":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/","name":"JHU Engineering Magazine","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/#\/schema\/person\/acfe7b0b2b4e334734cec46640d4b37c","name":"Monica Leigh","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/453a535757449a6e5df98157a139bf964b78333c2f686d5468bf82ada8e18252?s=96&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/453a535757449a6e5df98157a139bf964b78333c2f686d5468bf82ada8e18252?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/453a535757449a6e5df98157a139bf964b78333c2f686d5468bf82ada8e18252?s=96&r=g","caption":"Monica Leigh"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20918"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20918\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21685,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20918\/revisions\/21685"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"image](\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Mom-Pop-van-clipped-copy.jpg\")
\n![\"image](\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/JHU9700-200x300.jpg\")
He is an associate professor in the Whiting School\u2019s