Tami Bond, a 1995 U.C. Berkeley alumna, was recently named a 2014 MacArthur Fellow for her work on measuring black carbon emissions.

UC Berkeley alumna — Tami Bond, a civil and environmental engineering professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign—was recently named a 2014 MacArthur Fellow for her work in studying the effects of black carbon emissions on human health and the atmosphere.

Bond received her Master’s Degree in mechanical engineering from UC Berkeley with a focus on combustion in 1995 and a Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences, civil engineering and mechanical engineering in 2000. She is one of 21 Macarthur Fellows this year who will receive a $625,000 stipend each, which will be allotted over five years.

Because of the ubiquity of emission and lack of standardized measurements, the global impact of black carbon — which is created every time something is burned — was not accurately measured until Bond began focusing on the deleterious nature of pollution.  Bond conducted laboratory work and partnered up with the World Bank and non-profit organizations to study the effects of black carbon in various locations. Through her investigations, she has created the most comprehensive and up-to-date study of black carbon emission’s impact on the environment and humans.

She plans on brainstorming low-cost solutions for developing nations and also creating global standardization of how black carbon emissions are measured and interpreted. Bond’s greater vision is to inspire local awareness and international policy change to address the impact of pollution on the environment.

Learn more at the MacArthur Foundation website.