Karin Ardon-Dryer, Ph.D

Karin Ardon-Dryer, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geosciences at the Atmospheric Science Group at Texas Tech University. Before joining TTU she was a Postdoctoral Associate in the Department of Earth, Atmosphere and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); and later a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of System Biology at Harvard Medical School at Harvard University. Dr. Ardon-Dryer received her Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from the Department of Geophysics, Atmospheric and Planetary Science, and the Porter School of Environmental Studies at Tel Aviv University in Israel.

Dr. Ardon-Dryer studies the effect that aerosols (mainly dust particles) have on climate, the environment, and our health. In particular, she takes an interdisciplinary approach and combines field and laboratory work to investigate the interaction between human and climate; exploring the human effects on climate, and vice versa, namely, how climate may affect our lives (e.g. health) in the short and long terms

Dr. Ardon-Dryer strived to involve undergraduate students as research assistants in various research projects. Since joining TTU Dr. Ardon-Dryer mentored three high school girls and >35 undergraduate students from across campus. Dr. Ardon-Dryer encourages her undergraduate students to be active in scholarship, demonstrated by their involvement in publications and conference presentations. Two of her undergraduate student research assistants recently graduated with master's degrees under her supervision. 

Dr. Ardon-Dryer work on different projects from running the measurement station AEROS (Aerosol Observation Station) that help to study the characteristics of atmospheric particles during dust storm events, to understanding the different meteorological conditions that generate dust events and their impact on air qualet and climate. She also investigates the effects that aerosol particles have on human health, using an interdisciplinary approach, she developed, that observes the effect of air pollution particles on health at a single-cell level. Dr. Ardon-Dryer is a PI on an NSF grant, a Co-PI on an NASA grant and the lead scientict on an EPA community organization grant.