Springfield College Assistant Professor of Environmental Science Chelsea Corr-Limoges Leads Air Quality Research
Springfield College Assistant Professor of Environmental Science Chelsea Corr-Limoges is using innovative air quality sensors to enhance her students’ academic experience, and work with her peers to track air quality throughout the Pioneer Valley.
By: Damon Markiewicz
If you walk past the light poll in front of Marsh Memorial, take a look at the top and you will notice some innovative technology that Springfield College Assistant Professor of Environmental Science Chelsea Corr-Limoges is using to enhance her students’ academic experience, and work with her peers to track air quality throughout the Pioneer Valley.
Since November of 2021, the PurpleAir sensors have been installed as part of the Pioneer Valley Healthy Air Network, which was established by the City of Springfield, the City of Holyoke, the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts, Live Well Springfield, PV Asthma Coalition, ReGreen Springfield, the Earthwatch Institute, and the Yale School of Public Health.
“These sensors are a valuable research tool because they measure the amount of particulate pollution in the air at any given time,” added Corr-Limoges. “These track air pollution particles from wherever they come from. In urban areas like Springfield, we have our own sources of these particles because of vehicles and burning fuels, so we look at the trends and analyze them to see if there are certain times of the year we see spikes.”
Falling in line with our Humanics philosophy and the College’s commitment to service to others, the mission of having the sensors on campus is to provide live air quality data directly to families across the Pioneer Valley, so that community residents can make informed decisions on how they spend their day.
“There are three sensors, and they are a great resource for our campus community, as well as our entire community in the Pioneer Valley,” explained Corr-Limoges. “My background is in air quality science and it’s exciting to have these sensors, and have the opportunities to view and analyze the data, and be able to help the members of our community with the data we collect.”
Corr-Limoges went on to add, “The sensors have been running continuously, and all of the data they collect is available to the public. What’s great about having these sensors running is it allows everyone to view the info, and see the quality of air throughout the city, and see any trends that occur.”
And when unexpected events occur, such as the recent wildfires spreading throughout Canada, having the sensors on campus provides unique research opportunities for Corr-Limoges and her students to view how the smoke from these type of events impacts the air quality in Springfield.
“We usually don’t get a lot of situations where the air quality in the city of Springfield is effected by forest fire smoke,” explained Corr-Limoges. “Normally when these events occur, there are smoke clouds that can be seen, but they are too high up to impact our breathing. So this most recent event can provide insight into how forest fire smoke affects the air quality, in an area that normally doesn’t have issues associated with forest fire smoke.”
And as a result of the current events, the research gathered will be extremely beneficial for student research as well.
“In the fall, I actually have a pair of students interested in doing research on air quality in the Springfield area, so having the data from this most recent event only helps us on an academic side of things, because we have data students can use as part of the class and their research,” concluded Corr-Limoges.
