DRI scientist Dr. Alan Gertler will receive the 2001 Y.T. Lee Hope for the Future for Sustainability Award based on his research into the impacts of vehicle emissions on air quality. The Hope for the Future award is presented jointly by the International Union of Air Pollution Prevention and Environmental Protection Associations (IUAPPA) and the International Academy of Sciences.
Gertler was selected from more than 100 candidates drawn from researchers who presented the results of their work in IUAPPA regional conferences held around the world between 1996 and 1999. The DRI scientist has been invited to present an acceptance paper at the IUAPPA World Congress on Clean Air and Environmental Protection in Seoul, Korea.
Gertler's research at DRI includes laboratory and field studies of the atmospheric chemistry of air pollutants, including wet and dry acid deposition and the use of roadway tunnels to determine actual on-road vehicle emissions as compared to government and industry projections. He is also involved in the development of new methods to attribute observed airborne particulate levels to specific sources and is the principal investigator for attributing the sources contributing to severe air quality problems in Cairo, Egypt as part of the Cairo Air Improvement Project.