In addition to carbon dioxide gas, aerosols—tiny particles suspended in the air—influence climate change and public health, according to chemistry professor Paul Davidovits, who for more than 15 years has worked in partnership with Aerodyne Research, Inc. studying the complex behavior of soot particles in the atmosphere. Some 20 researchers from across the country came to the Davidovits Labs in the Merkert Chemistry Center at Boston College during the month of July to share and test new research technologies aimed at analyzing aerosol particles by mass, shape, chemical composition, and even the sound they make as they become warm. Above, on July 18, graduate student Eben Cross (left) and Aerodyne’s Timothy Onasch work in the lab using a newly developed apparatus that generates uniform soot particles and analyzes their behavior and interactions. “Measuring the many forms of atmospheric aerosols has led researchers to invent their own devices,” said Davidovits. “The challenge now is to fine-tune those instruments in concert with each other in order to set reliable scientific benchmarks for future study.”