Sorry the blog went all quiet for a bit!
Although we have loved working with our participants in Rangiora and developing the CONA project, the sad truth is that we have other projects to look after too. Not since I was a PhD student have I had the chance to concentrate on just one project. This is the main reason why there have been no new blog posts now for over a month.
But that doesn't mean that there have been no developments. One of the things I did in October was to present some initial results at an international conference in Las Vegas. The conference was held by the International Society for Exposure Science, of which I've been a member for years. It is attended mainly by scientists involved in understanding how the environment impacts our health, but also regulators from the US Environmental Protection Agency, plus other similar groups around the world.
I made two presentations - one on the ODINs we used to detect high levels of woodsmoke in the air around Rangiora, plus another presentation on the PACMAN, which some of our participants had in their homes. I didn't have many results to present - still quite a bit of analysis to do - but did raise the profile of the project and what we are doing. Several American researchers came up to me afterwards to find out more and raise the possibility of collaboration. That's what good conferences are all about.
And, no, I didn't gamble the rest of the project funds on the blackjack table.
In between the other projects I work on, I, and my colleagues, are still ploughing our way through the data. We're gradually getting to the point of understanding what instruments worked and what did not. Through November and December our attention will turn to bringing all the data from all of the different instruments together to re-create the 'air quality story' of August and September in Rangiora. In the new year we'll be starting to plan what 'phase 2' will look like.
We'll continue to post to this blog as our understanding develops, so keep checking in!
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| I was at a conference - honest! |
But that doesn't mean that there have been no developments. One of the things I did in October was to present some initial results at an international conference in Las Vegas. The conference was held by the International Society for Exposure Science, of which I've been a member for years. It is attended mainly by scientists involved in understanding how the environment impacts our health, but also regulators from the US Environmental Protection Agency, plus other similar groups around the world.
I made two presentations - one on the ODINs we used to detect high levels of woodsmoke in the air around Rangiora, plus another presentation on the PACMAN, which some of our participants had in their homes. I didn't have many results to present - still quite a bit of analysis to do - but did raise the profile of the project and what we are doing. Several American researchers came up to me afterwards to find out more and raise the possibility of collaboration. That's what good conferences are all about.
And, no, I didn't gamble the rest of the project funds on the blackjack table.
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| Not a good place to try and raise research funding. |
We'll continue to post to this blog as our understanding develops, so keep checking in!
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