I'm currently a NOAA C&GC postdoctoral fellow working with Prof. James Randerson in the Department of Earth System Science at the University of California, Irvine. My current research focuses on mapping the satellite-derived progression of wildfires in the western United States, investigating the climate and active fire suppression controls on fire spread, and quantifying related air quality and public health impacts. During my Ph.D. in the Atmospheric Chemistry Modeling Group at Harvard University, my research focused on 1) investigating trends in the timing and magnitude of crop residue burning in northwestern India (Punjab and Haryana), as well as the drivers and air quality consequences of these shifts; 2) quantifying smoke exposure and public health impacts associated with fire emissions in Indonesia; and 3) assessing satellite-derived fire-related smoke in North America. I use a combination of remote sensing, GIS, statistics, and atmospheric modeling with both ground-based and satellite-derived datasets. In the past, I worked at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on a variety of topics from physical oceanography to paleoceanography to organic biogeochemistry: 1) identifying autumn-lead global sea surface salinity predictors for prediction of winter precipitation in southwestern United States; 2) reconstructing the strength of the biological pump with carbon isotopes of benthic and planktonic foraminifera in the North Pacific in the last 600,000 years; and 3) reconstructing the late Holocene paleoclimate and paleo-vegetation of Middleton Island, Alaska with with n-alkane distributions and hydrogen isotopes. In my spare time, I enjoy poetry, photography, TV/movie/game soundtracks, basketball, ceramics, chess puzzles, and crime dramas.
Conferences/Events
Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Wildland Fires Workshop
September 13-15, 2023 at Keck Center, Washington D.C.
I attended a National Academies workshop on "Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Wildland Fires: Toward Improved Monitoring, Modeling, and Management." I moderated an in-person Breakout Session on Day 2.
AGU Atmospheric Science Early Career Webinar
August 22, 2023
I presented a talk on "Detection of Cascading Delays in the Monsoon Rice-growing Season and Post-monsoon Agricultural Burning in Punjab, India" at part of the AGU Atmospheric Science Early Career Webinar series. Please see the details here.
ACCESS XVII, Gordon Conference for Atmospheric Chemistry
July 27-August 4, 2023 at Upton, NY and Newry, ME
I was selected as a participant for the Seventeenth Atmospheric Chemistry Colloquium for Emerging Senior Scientists (ACCESS XVII). I presented a talk at Brookhaven National Laboratory on my PhD work and a poster at the Gordon Conference for Atmospheric Chemistry on my postdoctoral work.
Papers/Writing
Data-driven placement of PM2.5 air quality sensors in the United States: an approach to target urban environmental injustice
September 13, 2023
Makoto Kelp's paper is published in GeoHealth (main + SI)!
Rapid growth and high cloud-forming potential of anthropogenic sulfate aerosol in a thermal power plant plume during COVID lockdown in India
August 3, 2023
Aishwarya Singh's paper is published in npj Climate and Atmospheric Science (main + SI)!
Prescribed burns as a tool to mitigate future wildfire smoke exposures: Lessons for states and environmental justice communities
June 14, 2023
Makoto Kelp's paper is published in Earth's Future (main + SI)! See the corresponding press release from Harvard SEAS.