As Canadian wildfire haze blanketed the mid-Atlantic last week, local news sources turned to experts at Franklin & Marshall College for air quality and public health insights. 

Professor of Geosciences Robert Walter '75 has been monitoring Lancaster’s air-quality index (AQI) via an air sampler atop of the Alumni Sports & Fitness Center.  Student researcher Julian Marsh '28 and local scientist Eric Schwarz joined Walter to observe Lancaster’s smoky skies on July 17. 

“We have an air sampler that's pulling in air 24/7 at just above a resting breathing rate, and it's sampling the particulate matter that's in the air. We can actually do chemical analysis on each of these tiny particles as a way to understand the sources of that pollution,” Walter said.  

With local AQI levels over 300 – rivaling the unprecedented levels achieved during the 2023 Canadian wildfires – Walter warned it was best to stay indoors until harmful particle counts recede. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection declared a code purple air quality alert, indicating very unhealthy pollution levels for all.

Last week’s monitoring efforts are a continuation of air quality and public health research in Lancaster County done by Walter and students. 

The group, who call themselves the Aeronauts, includes Marsh, Rihanna Bryce ’28, and Francesca Fusunyan-Lee ’28, and recent graduates Mia Aaronson ’26, Ali Nawar ’26, and Konstantinos Ntakoulas ’26. In addition to AQI results, they examined medical data from Lancaster EMS and hope to gain access to local hospital admissions records to check for statistical correlations between poor air quality and dangerous public health consequences.

“The overarching goal from this project is to increase public awareness and from that, get politicians and policymakers to understand how severe and persistent the problem is,” Walter said.

A $12,000 air sampling machine, installed in 2023, was a generous donation to the College by a RADeCO (Radiation Detection Equipment Company) sales representative connected to Schwarz, a 10-year volunteer researcher in the Walter’s Gamma Spectroscopy Lab and nuclear chemist at Constellation Energy.

The research opportunity has given Marsh, an earth and environmental science major, an even deeper appreciation of his field of study.

“The earth and environmental science major here is indescribably amazing,” he said. “There's so much I've learned. It's so interdisciplinary.” 

ABC27 interviews F&M Professor of Geosciences Robert Walter ’75 about air quality concerns and student Julian Marsh ’28 demonstrates how to check filters from a campus air sampler.