Name: Mario Molina
Title: Professor, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
Email: mjmolina@ucsd.edu

Campus Address: Urey Hall Addition (UHA) 3050E
Phone: (858) 534-1696

Education:

Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 1972

B.S. Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, 1965

Field of Expertise:

In 1995 Professor Molina won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in for his research on the the threat of the ozone layer in the stratosphere of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). His current research involves assessing and mitigating the air pollution problems of rapidly growing cities around the world. His research group is developing methods to conduct integrated assessments of complex environmental problems facing major cities, particularly in the developing the world, in collaboration with the Mari Molina Center for Strategic Studies in Energy and the Environment, located in Mexico City. These assessments bring economic, risk, and policy analysis into play along with the scientific research and data that serve as the underpinnings of policy formation. The approach is dynamic, iterative, and educational, and aimed at improving both the process and the institutional capacity for environmental decision making. Regional transportation planning, health and economic impacts of air pollution, and industrial policy are examples of the fields whose knowledge are being integrated in order to address the root causes of air pollution and devise successful long-term strategies to protect human health. The assessments also integrate the analysis of urban, regional, and global air pollution and climate change-related issues that are typically addressed separately by different levels of government but which would benefit greatly by a more holistic approach.

Regions of Interest: Megacities of the Developing World

Selected Publications:

"Atmospheric new particle formation enhanced by organic acids", (with R.Y. Zhang, I. Suh, J. Zhao, D. Zhang, E.C. Fortner, XX.Tie, L.T. Molina) Science, 304 (5676): 1487-1490 (2004).

" Vehicle traffic as a source of particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure in the Mexico City metropolitan area", (with L.C.Marr , LA. Grogan, H. Wohrnschimmel, L.T. Molina, T.J. Smith, and E. Garshick ), Environmental Science & Technology, 38 (9):2584-2592 (2004).