UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Miriam Freedman, associate professor of chemistry, has been honored with an American Chemical Society (ACS) Early Career Award in Experimental Physical Chemistry. The award recognizes her work that characterized how the size of droplets changes phase transitions (i.e. from solid to liquid) in particles in the atmosphere and the role of surface properties for the nucleation of ice crystals.
The ACS Physical Chemistry Division annually sponsors senior and early-career awards in theoretical and experimental physical chemistry that are intended to recognize the most outstanding scientific achievements of members of the division. The Early Career Award is presented to two recipients each year. It recognizes outstanding contributions in experimental and theoretical physical chemistry by young investigators. Each recipient receives a plaque and is invited to present a lecture at the divisional award symposium held at the fall ACS meeting that immediately follows the announcement of the award.
The Freedman group studies aerosol particles that impact climate through their interactions with light, clouds and various other chemicals in the atmosphere. The physical and chemical properties of aerosol particles that determine the nature of these interactions include particle size, shape and composition. Freedman’s lab aims to characterize aerosol structures and determine the effects these structures have on aerosol physical and chemical properties and to develop methods for the study of submicron aerosol particles.
Freedman was honored with the Eberly College of Science Climate and Diversity Award in 2019 and an NSF Career Award in 2014. She has published more than 47 scientific papers in journals such as ACS Earth and Space Chemistry and Journal of Physical Chemistry.
Prior to joining the faculty at Penn State in 2010, Freedman was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She earned her doctoral degree at the University of Chicago.
Freedman and the other awardees will be recognized at the annual fall ACS meeting.