About Tammy Thompson

Tammy Thompson

Senior Air Quality Scientist

Contact

Boulder, Colorado Office

Work

Areas of expertise:

Atmospheric chemistry and physics, air quality modeling, meteorological modeling, emissions, climate/air quality interactions

Tammy Thompson is a Senior Air Quality Scientist on the interdisciplinary air quality team at EDF, where she applies expertise in atmospheric chemical and physical processes and air quality modeling to advance our understanding of the causes of air pollution. Her work investigates the drivers of pollutant formation, transport and transformation, including why concentrations vary at hyper-local scales in some areas, and connects observed pollution back to its underlying sources.

A central focus of her work is developing, identifying, and evaluating modeling tools that link measurements to their sources and strengthen the scientific foundation for policy design. She works to translate this technical knowledge into accessible, actionable insights for decision makers and advocates, helping ensure that air quality science informs effective and equitable policy. She also contributes to a range of other air quality efforts across EDF.

Background

Dr. Thompson received her Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Florida, her PhD, also in Chemical Engineering (with a focus on atmospheric science and modeling) from the University of Texas at Austin, followed by a postdoc at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has 15 years of experience working on a wide range of air quality issues as an atmospheric scientist in academia, a consultant to non-profits and industry, and within the executive and legislative branches of government.

Publications

Thompson, T.M. “Modeling the Climate and Carbon Systems to Estimate the Social Cost of Carbon” Accepted for publication at Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change.

Zhang, R., Thompson, T.M., Barna, M.G., Hand, J.L., McMurray, J.A., Bell, M.D., Malm, W.C., Schichtel, B.A. “Source regions contributing to excess reactive nitrogen deposition in the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) of the United States”, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions 1–38, 2018.

Thompson, T.M., Shepherd, D., Stacy, A., Barna, M.G., Schichtel, B.A. “Modeling to Evaluate Contribution of Oil and Gas Emissions to Air Pollution” Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, 67, 445–461, 2017.

Li, Y., Thompson, T.M., Van Damme, M., Chen, X., Benedict, K.B., Shao, Y., Day, D., Boris, A., Sullivan, A.P., Ham, J., Whitburn, S., Clarisse, L., Coheur, P.-F., and Collett Jr., J.L. “Temporal and spatial variability of ammonia in urban and agricultural regions of northern Colorado, United States”, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 17, 6197–6213, 2017.

Saari, R.K., Thompson, T.M., Selin, N.E. “Human Health and Economic Impacts of Ozone Reductions by Income Group” Environmental Science & Technology, 51, 1953–1961, 2017.

Thompson, T.M., Rausch, S., Saari, R.K., Selin, N.E. “Air quality co-benefits of subnational carbon policies” Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, 66, 988–1002, 2016.

Malm W.C., Rodriguez M.A., Schichtel B.A., Gebhart K.A., Thompson T.M., Barna M.G., Benedict K.B., Carrico C.M., Collett Jr. J.L. “A hybrid modeling approach for estimating reactive nitrogen deposition in Rocky Mountain National Park”, Atmospheric Environment 126, 258–273, 2016.

Thompson T.M., Rodriguez M.A., Barna M.G., Gebhart K., Hand J., Day D., Malm, W., Benedict K., Collett Jr. J.L., and Schichtel B. “Atmospheric Modeling of Reduced Nitrogen Deposition Source Apportionment at Rocky Mountain National Park“, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 120, 2015.

Saari R.K., Selin N.E., Rausch S. and Thompson T.M. “A self-consistent method to assess air quality co-benefits from US climate policies”, Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, 65, 74-89, 2015.

Thompson T.M., Rausch S., Saari R.K., Selin N.E. “Air Quality Co-Benefits of US Carbon Policies: A Systems Approach to Evaluating Policy Outcomes and Uncertainties”, Nature Climate Change, 4, 917-923. 2014.

Thompson T.M., Saari, R.K., Selin, N.E. “Air Quality Resolution for Health Impacts Assessment: Influence of Regional Characteristics”, Atmospheric Chemistry & Physics, 14, 969-978, 2014.

Thompson T. M. and Selin N. E. “Influence of air quality model resolution on uncertainty associated with health impacts”, Atmospheric Chemistry & Physics, 12(20), 9753–9762, 2012.

Sun L., Webster M., McGaughey G., McDonald-Buller E.C., Thompson T.M., Prinn R., Ellerman A.D. and Allen D.T. “Flexible NOx Abatement from Power Plants in the Eastern United States”, Environmental Science & Technology, 46 (10): 5607–5615, 2012.

Thompson T.M., King C.W., Allen D.T., Webber M.E. “Air quality impacts of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in Texas: evaluating three battery charging scenarios”, Environmental Research Letters, 6, 024004, 2011.

Thompson T.M., Kimura Y., Durrenberger C., Webb A., Tejela Matias A.I., and Allen D.T.: “Estimates of the Air Quality Benefits using Natural Gas in Industrial and Transportation Applications in Lima, Peru”, Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy. January 2009.