Mary A. Cameron, PhD


MaryACameron at gmail.com



About

Using math and computers to fight climate change.

Education: 
Ph.D. Atmosphere/Energy Program, Stanford University, 2011-2017 
Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Advisor:  Mark Z. Jacobson  
Thesis: The Evaluation and Development of Techniques Used to Model the Effects of Aircraft Emissions on Climate and Air Pollution (Link).
M.S. Computational and Mathematical Engineering, Stanford University, 2009-2011
B.S. Mathematics, Arizona State University, 2006-2009
Thesis: A mathematical model of angiogenesis in glioblastoma multiforme (PDF).


Current Projects

Interactive Western European wind atlas (http://www.windmap.org/)

P. Enevoldsen and M.A. Cameron
Cameron and Enevoldsen are creating a wind power resource map of Western Europe, using a high-resolution wind speed database to display onshore and offshore wind power potential. The overlays new turbine exclusion zones by finding and aggregating locations around buildings, roads, railways, and nature preserves, so that project planners can reduce the time needed to locate new project sites.

Course Instructor (link)

Air Pollution and Global Warming: History, Science, and Solutions (Winter 2017)
Primary instructor for the introductory undergraduate/graduate Stanford engineering course. Course material incorporates news stories and social media posts to teach students to recognize pervasive climate myths. Cameron is currently creating a website based on student feedback to explain climate science to non-scientists.

The Solutions Project (link)

Research and outreach, 2014-2017
The Solutions Project unites science, economics, and social awareness to encourage the transition from fossil fuels to 100% clean, renewable energy. Research includes roadmaps for 50 U.S. states, 139 countries, and 33 cities to convert to 100% renewable energy for all purposes. In 2016, Cameron's work with Mark Z. Jacobson on grid reliability with 100% renewable energy received the Cozzarelli Prize from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences for “outstanding scientific excellence and originality.” A similar study exploring worldwide electric grid stability is currently in progress.

Data Science Fellow

Johego, https://www.johego.org/
Cameron uses web-scraping, database management, and machine learning to collect, validate, and fill missing data on >1.5 million social service providers for the Johego mobile application. This provides social workers and other public servants with consolidated, up-to-date information on nearby charities, in order to minimize costly errors that harm vulnerable populations.

Volunteering

Solutions Project Data Visualizations (link)

Created a set of interactive data visualizations to coincide with the release of 100% renewable energy roadmaps for 139 countries at COP-21 November, 2015. (More data visualization projects here.)

Environmental Impact advisor, Ampaire Inc.

Environmental and climate impact advisor for Ampaire, a company developing zero emission aircraft in order to eliminate the negative direct and indirect effects of aviation on climate.

Climate Science Outreach

  • Curriculum development for a year-long high school course covering climate change science and solutions.
    Sequoia High School, Redwood City, California, July 2016.
  • Feminism in STEMinism: Survival tips for girls who code, Q&A session with the Si Se Puede Foundation Degrees of Freedom, an all-girls FIRST robotics team #6413,
    Phoenix, Arizona, 26 November 2016.
  • Climate change science and renewable energy solutions presentation to a 6th-grade science class learning about global warming,
    East Palo Alto Charter School, Redwood City, California, 13 June 2016.
  • Presentation on weather forecasting and measurements to kindergarten classes beginning a unit on weather,
    East Palo Alto Charter School, Redwood City, California, 22 April 2016.

Publications

Cameron, M.A. (2017), The Evaluation and Development of Techniques Used to Model the Effects of Aircraft Emissions on Climate and Air Pollution, Stanford University Ph.D. Dissertation, available at  https://purl.stanford.edu/gw895bx0059.

Cameron, M.A., M.Z. Jacobson, A.D. Naiman, and S.K. Lele (2013), Effects of plume-scale versus grid-scale treatment of aircraft exhaust photochemistry, Geophysical Research Letters, 40, 5815–5820 (PDF).

Cameron, M.A., M.Z. Jacobson, S.R.H. Barrett, H. Bian, C.-C. Chen, S.D. Eastham, A. Gettelman, A. Khodayari, Q. Liang, D. Phoenix, H.B. Selkirk, N. Unger, D.J. Wuebbles, X. Yue (2017), An inter-comparative study of the effects of aircraft emissions on surface air quality, in revision.

Jacobson, M.Z. M.A. Delucchi, M.A. Cameron, and B.A. Frew (2015), A low-cost solution to the grid reliability problem with 100% penetration of intermittent wind, water, and solar for all purposes, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1510028112.
2016 Cozzarelli Prize from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Jacobson, M.Z., M.A. Delucchi, Z.A.F. Bauer, S.C. Goodman, W.E. Chapman, M.A. Cameron et al. (2017), 100% Clean and renewable wind, water, and sunlight (WWS) all-sector energy roadmaps for 139 countries of the world (Link).

Jacobson, M.Z., M.A. Delucchi, M.A. Cameron, B.V. Mathiesen (2017), Grid reliability at low cost in 139 countries among 20 world regions with 100% intermittent wind, water, and solar power for all purposes, Nature Energy, in preparation.

Gettelman, A., C.-C. Chen, M.Z. Jacobson, M.A. Cameron, D.J. Wuebbles, A. Khodayari (2017), Coupled chemistry-climate effects from 2050 projected aviation emissions, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, in review.

Select Presentations

Presentations and Seminars

  • Seminar. Modeling the effects of aircraft emissions on climate and air pollution, Ph.D. Thesis defense public seminar,
    Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, 26 July 2016.
  • Presentation. Microphysical aviation exhaust modeling and analysis of ACCESS2 observations,
    FAA/ASCENT Advisory Committee Meeting, Alexandria, VA, 27 April 2016 (connected remotely).
  • Seminar. Modeling the effects of aircraft emissions on climate and air pollution,
    Atmosphere/Energy seminar, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, 26 April 2016.
  • Presentation. The effects of aircraft on surface air quality,
    FAA External Tools Meeting, Alexandria, Virginia, 29 March 2016 (connected remotely).
  • Presentation and Panel Discussion. An Inter-comparative modeling study of aviation exhaust on surface air quality,
    AEC Roadmap Meeting, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC, 19 May 2015 (connected remotely).
  • Seminar. Modeling aircraft emissions from multiple flights at the subgrid scale,
    Atmosphere/Energy seminar, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, 19 November 2013.
  • Seminar. Subgrid-scale treatment of aircraft emissions over the Arctic, Ph.D. Qualifying exam public seminar,
    Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, 11 July 2013.
  • Presentation and Panel Discussion. Effects of aviation on atmospheric chemistry,
    Aviation Emissions Characterization Roadmap, 11th Meeting of Primary Contributors, Washington, DC, 14 May 2013 (connected remotely).
  • Presentation. Effects of plume versus grid-scale treatment of aircraft exhaust photochemistry,
    ACCRI Symposium, Virginia Beach, Virginia, 27 November 2012 (connected remotely).
  • Presentation. Examining the effects of aircraft emissions on contrails and global climate,
    FAA/PARTNER Meeting, Washington, D.C., 27 March 2012 (connected remotely).
  • Presentation. Analysis of a mathematical model of early brain tumor growth,
    SIAM Conference on Computational Science & Engineering, Miami, Florida, 5 March 2009.

Poster Presentations

  • An Inter-comparative Study of the Effects of Aircraft on Surface Air Quality,
    American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, California, 14-18 December 2015.
  • Quantifying the spatial and temporal distribution of aircraft emissions in the Upper-troposphere/lower stratosphere,
    CRC Mobile Source Air Toxins Workshop, Sacramento, California, 17-19 February 2015
    First place student poster award
  • The effects of aircraft on climate and air pollution,
    Opportunity Job Fair Research Symposium, Stanford, California, January 2015
    Outstanding poster award
  • Quantifying the spatial and temporal distribution of aircraft emissions in the upper-troposphere/lower stratosphere,
    American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, California, 15-19 December 2014
    Outstanding student poster award
  • Evaluating the photochemical effects of aircraft emissions in the upper-troposphere/lower stratosphere,
    Atmospheric Chemical Mechanisms, Davis, California, 10-12 December 2014.
  • The photochemical effects of treating aircraft emissions from multiple flights at the subgrid scale,
    American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, California, 9-13 December 2013.
  • Modeling the effects of aircraft emissions on atmospheric photochemistry using layered plume dynamics,
    American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, California, 3-7 December 2012.
  • Comparing the chemical effects of treating aviation gas emissions in an expanding plume versus at the grid scale,
    American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, California, 5-9 December 2011.

Teaching

Stanford University Course Instructor:

Air Pollution and Global Warming: History, Science, and Solutions ( CEE 64, CEE 263B). Winter 2017
Ordinary Differential Equations for Engineers ( CME 102). Fall 2018

Stanford University Teaching Assistant:

Vector Calculus for Engineers ( CME 100). Fall 2010
Introduction to Probability and Statistics for Engineers ( CME 106). Winter 2011
Linear Algebra and Partial Differential Equations for Engineers ( CME 104). Spring 2010, Spring 2011 
Centennial TA Award
Air Pollution Modeling ( CEE 263A). Spring 2014
Numerical Weather Prediction ( CEE 263B). Spring 2013, Spring 2015

Personal

Mary spends most of her free time trail running or recovering from running-related injuries: Trail, Road