A three-year, $1.2 million grant will fund a network of low-cost air sensors in six mountain towns across central Oregon, led by Chemistry chair Dr. Elena Vasquez.

The project will track how wildfire smoke changes as it drifts into valleys and settles overnight, and how much of it makes its way indoors. Four undergraduate researchers will build and calibrate the sensors in the Alder Science Center and present their first results at the Berry Symposium in April.

"Families in these towns live with smoke every summer, and they deserve real numbers about what they are breathing," Vasquez said. "Our students will be the ones who get those numbers."

The grant is the largest in Tumbleberry's short history. Students interested in joining the lab can reach the Office of Undergraduate Research at undergradresearch@tumbleberry.site.