James E. Boulter, Ph.D.
Contact Information
Hibbard Humanities Hall 357
124 Garfield Ave.
Eau Claire, WI 54701
Tuesdays 11:00 AM 鈥 12:30 PM (in Phillips 458)
Wednesdays 2:00 PM 鈥 3:30 PM (in Hibbard 357)
Click my "Professional Website" to schedule a time and/or e-mail me if you'd prefer to meet via Zoom.
Biography
I joined the faculty of the 糖心Vloge in 2004 and now hold joint appointments in the Departments of Public Health & Environmental Studies (PHES) and Chemistry & Biochemistry. I earned my Ph.D. in analytical chemistry with a specialization in atmospheric sciences from the University of Colorado, Boulder. I teach classes in general, analytical, and environmental chemistry, as well as radiation, air pollution, and sustainability. My research activities are split between laboratory and field studies of a wide range of atmospheric particulate matter and their impacts on climate and human health and public surveys in the US and China focused on perceptions of and responses to climate change.
Over the past two decades, I have given dozens of public presentations on topics including: planetary atmospheric science, global and regional climate science, perceptions of and responses to climate change, the intersection of religious faith and climate, renewable and carbon-free energy, climate policy solutions, and sustainability. I was the former chancellor鈥檚 sustainability fellow at UW-Eau Claire, was the founding director of the Watershed Institute for Collaborative Environmental Studies (now PHES) and the Office of Interdisciplinary Studies, and I currently serve as the faculty advisor to the Student Office of Sustainability and serve on the Chancellor's Advisory Council on Sustainability. I have contributed to a variety of advisory committees for the City of Eau related to sustainability, and in various leadership roles with the Eau Claire chapter of Citizens鈥 Climate Lobby.
Education
- NSF Aeronomy & Atmospheric Chemistry Postdoctoral Fellowship (SRI International, Molecular Physics Lab)
- Ph.D., University of Colorado, Boulder (Analytical Chemistry, Certificate in Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences)
- B.S., Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, WA (Chemistry & Biochemistry; Certificate in Environmental Studies)
Teaching and Research Interests
- ENPH 324, Radiation, Air Pollution, and Health
- ENV 101, Sustainability Basics and Beyond
- ENV 395, as Building Sustainability in the Academy
- ENV 389, Taking the Measure of Sustainability
- CHEM 344, Modern Applied Separations and Spectrometry
- CHEM 304, Environmental Chemistry
- CHEM 213, Quantitative Analysis
- CHEM 115, Chemical Principles
- Using CO2 as a tracer for indoor air quality (campus covid response) - with Dr. Crispin Pierce
- Development of a novel analytical approach to quantify respirable silica in occupational settings
- Assessment of AfterFire wipes for removal of carcinogenic material from skin surrogates
- Public perceptions, beliefs, and understanding of climate change in the US & China - with Drs. Eric Jamelske, Kristine Knutson
- Interactions between particulate matter in the upper mesosphere with oxygen radical species
- Local megacryometeor sample analysis - with Drs. Hartsel, McEllistrem, Ihinger, Phillips, Thomas, Cleary, etc.
Published Research
My earliest research began at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, where I contributed to development and evaluation of novel methods to mediate aqueous and gaseous waste streams using heterogeneous, solar photocatalytic approaches.
- Jacoby, W.A., Blake, D.M., Fennell, J.A., Boulter, J.E., Vargo, L.M., George, M.C., Dolberg, S.K., 鈥淗eterogeneous Photocatalysis for Control of Volatile Organic Compounds in Indoor Air.鈥 J. Air and Waste Manage. Assoc. 46, 1996, pp.891-898, DOI: 10.1080/10473289.1996.10467525.
- Blake, D.M., Wolfrum, E., Boulter, J., Prairie, M., Showalter, S., Rodacy, P., Leslie, P., Strange, B., 鈥淧hotocatalytic Oxidation and Reduction Chemistry and a New Process for Treatment of Pink Water and Related Contaminated Water鈥 NREL/TP-430-21580. Golden, CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, October 1996, DOI: 10.2172/395626.
My doctoral research at CU Boulder focused on atmospheric particulate matter and heterogeneous gas/solid atmospheric chemistry. I developed and characterized an aerosol inlet designed to separate atmospheric aerosol particles from interstitial air to eliminate gas-phase interferences in chemical analysis. Another part of my thesis research involved field testing a prototype instrument by measuring ozone concentrations within the arctic boundary layer at Summit, Greenland as part of a broader mission to characterize reactions of tropospheric oxidants in the upper, porous layer of the snowpack.
- Boulter, J.E., Cziczo, D.J., Middlebrook, A.M., Thomson, D.S., Murphy, D.M., 鈥淒esign and Performance of a Pumped Counterflow Virtual Impactor鈥 Aerosol Sci. & Tech. 40, 2006, pp.969-976, DOI: 10.1080/02786820600840984.
- Helmig D., Boulter J., David D., Birks J.W., Cullen N., Steffen K., 鈥淥zone and Meteorological Boundary-Layer Conditions at Summit, Greenland.鈥 Atmos. Env. 36, 2002, pp. 2595-2608, DOI: 10.1016/S1352-2310(02)00129-2.
My postdoctoral research at SRI International - and my early research with undergraduate students at UW-Eau Claire - extended my focus on heterogeneous atmospheric chemistry research to reactions on the surfaces of particles found in the upper atmosphere (ca. 85 km). These included recombination reactions of monatomic oxygen on amorphous water ice and mineral particles at very low temperatures.
- Boulter, J.E., Morgan, C.G., Marschall, J., 鈥淚ce Surfaces in the Mesosphere: Absence of Dangling Bonds in the Presence of Atomic Oxygen.鈥 Geophys. Res. Lett. 32, 2005, pp. L14817, DOI: 10.1029/2005GL022560.
- Boulter, J.E., Marschall, J., 鈥淢easurement of Effective Knudsen Diffusion Coefficients for Powder Beds used in Heterogeneous Uptake Experiments.鈥 J. Phys. Chem. A 110, 2006, pp.10444-10455, DOI: 10.1021/jp062866i.
- Marschall, J., Boulter, J.E., 鈥淎n Analytic Model for Atom Diffusion and Heterogeneous Recombination in a Porous Medium.鈥 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 39, 2006, pp. 3849-3857, DOI: 10.1088/0022-3727/39/17/022.
- Doering, S.R, Strobush, K.M., Marschall, J., Boulter, J.E., 鈥淭he effect of microwave-frequency discharge-activated oxygen on the microscale structure of low-temperature water ice films鈥 J. Chem. Phys. 131, 2009, p.224706, DOI: 0021-9606/2009/131(22)224706/12.
Recently, I have expanded my scholarly work to include elements of the social sciences and policy, collaborating with faculty colleagues in economics and communications. The context of this work is consistent with my focus on atmospheric sciences, gauging public perceptions of climate change science and mitigation policy approaches in the US and China.
- Stroik, P., Chakraborty, D., Ge, W., Boulter, J., Jamelske, E., 鈥淓ffect of Reciprocity on Public Opinion of International Climate Treaties: Experimental Evidence from the U.S. and China鈥, Climate Policy, 19 (8), 2019, pp. 959-973. DOI: 10.1080/14693062.2019.1617666.
- Jamelske, E., Boulter, J., Jang, W., Miller, L., 鈥淪upport for an International Climate Change Treaty among American and Chinese Adults鈥 accepted for publication in The International Journal of Climate Change: Impacts and Responses, 9 (1), 2017, pp. 53-70. DOI:10.18848/1835-7156/CGP/v09i01/53-70.
- Jamelske, E., Jang, W., Barrett, J., Miller, L., Han, W.L., Boulter, J., 鈥淓xamining differences in public opinion on climate change between college students in China and the USA鈥 J. Environ. Studies and Sciences 5 (2), 2015, pp.87-98, DOI: 10.1007/s13412-015-0229-9.
- Jamelske, E., Barrett, J, Boulter, J., 鈥淐omparing climate change awareness, perceptions, and beliefs of college students in the United States and China鈥 J. Environ. Studies and Sciences 3 (3), 2013, pp.269-278, DOI: 10.1007/s13412-013-0144-x.
My current chemistry research is related to analytical method development for atmospherically relevant trace constituents. Currently, we are working on in situ quantification of airborne respirable silica particulate matter using a novel, highly sensitive chemiluminescent analytical approach. This draws on some of my earliest work as a grad student.
- Boulter, J.E., Birks, J.W., 鈥淕as-Phase Chemiluminescence Detection鈥 in Chemiluminescence in Analytical Chemistry. Ed. Garc铆a-Campa帽a, A.M., Baeyens, W. New York: Marcel Dekker, (2001) pp.349-391.
- Boulter, J.E., 鈥淩eal-Time Silica Discriminating Respirable Aerosol Monitor鈥 T180036US01, United States Patent and Trademark Office, Submitted 9 April, 2019.