NEWS: FRIDAY MARCH 8 2013
30th Informal Symposium on Kinetics and Photochemical Processes in the Atmosphere
Pasadena, Hameetman Auditorium
Churchill Scholar, 1980, Cambridge University
Ph.D. 1986, University of California, Berkeley
Postdoctoral Research Associate, 1987-1988, University of Chicago
AFFILIATIONS
Caltech Chemistry Option
Caltech Environmental Science and Engineering Option
RESEARCH INTERESTS
The research activities of the Okumura Group are in the areas of laser spectroscopy, kinetics, and
reaction dynamics, applied to problems in atmospheric chemistry. We study atmospheric free
radicals and transient intermediates in order to understand the reactions and photochemistry
that are most important in the troposphere and stratosphere.
Our goal is both to determine parameters of key reactions and species in the atmosphere,
and to understand the chemical physics of these processes at the most fundamental level.
Topics
Laser spectroscopy of reactive intermediates; Reaction rates, mechanisms and dynamics of
free radicals, clusters, and transient species; Chemistry of peroxyl and alkoxyl radicals;
Photochemistry and photodissociation dynamics; Mechanisms of termolecular radical-radical reactions;
Nonadiabatic effects and multiple surfaces in radical reactions; The Jahn-Teller Effect in NO3; Long range intemolecular forces;
Isotope effects; Development of methods in cavity-enhanced and heterodyne-detected laser spectroscopy.
COLLABORATORS
Dr. Stanley P. Sander, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory