Scot Miller

Academic Institution: Harvard University
Program Year: 3
Practicum(s):
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (2011)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (2012)
Degree(s):
M.Sc. Environmental Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, 2009; B.A. Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard College, 06/2007
Field of Study: Atmospheric Sciences
Academic Advisor: Steven Wofsy

Summary of Research:

I am interested in using innovative approaches to atmospheric modeling and statistics in order to improve current estimates of greenhouse gas emissions. I focus my work on the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide. This gas is the single-most important species depleting the stratospheric ozone layer and has the third-largest radiative forcing of any greenhouse gas. However, estimates of nitrous oxide sources are highly uncertain and could be off by a factor of three over the U.S. I couple greenhouse gas measurements from aircraft and tall towers with regional-scale atmospheric modeling and a statistical approach called geostatistical inverse modeling in order to gain better constraints on emissions.

Publications:

Miller, Scot M., Kort, E.A., Hirsch, A.I., et al.: “Regional sources of nitrous oxide over the United States: Seasonal variation and spatial distribution.” Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres, 117, 2012, doi:10.1029/2011JD016951.

Miller, Scot M., Matross, D.M., Andrews, A.E., Millet, D.B., Longo, M., Gottlieb, E.W., Hirsch, A.I., Gerbig, C., Lin, J.C., Daube, B.C., Hudman, R.C., Dias P.L.S., Chow, V.Y., and Wofsy, S.C.: “Sources of Carbon Monoxide and Formaldehyde in North America Determined from High-Resolution Atmospheric Data.” Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 8, 7673-7696, 2008.

Awards:

- American Meteorological Society Graduate Fellow (2009)
- Robert Bosch Foundation Fellow -- Worked for the Green Party in the Bundestag (German national parliament) (2008-2009).
- George Mitchell Scholar (2007).
- USA Today All-USA College Academic Team (2007).
- Truman Scholar (2006).
- Morris Udall Scholar (2006).