Today, NIEHS highlighted OSU SRC Trainee Andy Larkin from Project 1. Below is the spotlight from the SRP ePosted Notes.

Andy Larkin is working with David Williams and William Baird at OSU and just started his fourth year as a Ph.D. student. Larkin is doing great work and we look forward to his presentation on atmospheric pollutant models and smartphones in an upcoming Risk e Learning webinar.

Larkin’s Ph.D. research involves several different projects, all of which are designed to bridge the gap between basic research and risk assessment. Larkin is working on computational modeling for predicting biological responses to PAH mixtures, real time forecasts of atmospheric PM2.5, PM10, and ozone for the state of Oregon, and smartphone programs to predict and prevent atmospheric pollutant exposures.

While he has won an impressive seven awards* as a graduate student, he was most proud of winning second place in the Oregon State three-minute thesis competition. Although not the most prestigious of his awards, Larkin explains that, “Creating a summary of a thesis designed to be understood by the public and less than three minutes in length was by far the most challenging presentation of my graduate studies, and it was thoroughly rewarding to have so many members of the general public understand and enjoy the presentation.”

When he isn’t busy working on his outstanding graduate research projects, he enjoys community volunteer work and ultramarathon running. Larkin just ran the Portland Marathon on October 6 and his next ultramarathon is the Florida Keys 100 mile run in May!

After Larkin finishes his Ph.D., he hopes to work for a research group or regulatory agency to develop technologies for reporting real-time risk assessment and risk communication information. He also hopes these technologies will help to prevent unwanted exposures in sensitive populations.

*Note: The Training Core web site shares more specifics about Larkin’s recent awards.