Dr Melita Keywood is a Senior Research Scientist in the Centre for Australian Climate and Weather Research (a partnership between the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research) where she has investigated aerosol composition and microphysics since 1996. Early in her career Dr Keywood carried out the first measurements of the size-resolved chemical composition of particulate matter in six Australian cities, producing data that was utilized in the establishment of the National Environment Protection Measure for Air (Air NEPM) and resulting in 6 publications. These data are the only Australian particulate data reported in the USEPA Office of Air Quality and Standards Staff Paper review of air quality and standards.

Between 2002 and 2004 Dr Keywood carried out a sabbatical at the California Institute of Technology where she worked with Professor John Seinfeld on the formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA). This work contributed significantly to our understanding of the effect of the structure of a volatile organic compound on the yield of aerosol produced in SOA formation, our understanding of the composition of SOA products, and the hygroscopic behaviour of these products. This work has resulted in the production of 8 refereed publications. Since her return to CSIRO, Dr Keywood has established a strong particle research program in the Bayside Air Quality Station located in Aspendale, Melbourne focusing on SOA formation and Dr Keywood has just completed a major project investigating tools for the identification and quantification of SOA in Australian airsheds. This work has provided the first quantitative estimate of SOA loading in Australia.

Dr Keywood is currently applying the methodology to other locations, including urban air sheds and remote forest sites where biogenic SOA formation dominates. Dr Keywood is also using information collected at the Bayside Air Quality Site in Aspendale to understand the effects of bushfire smoke on urban air quality and how this may be affected by changing fire regimes under climate change.

Dr Keywood is the Lead Scientist for the Multiphase Atmospheric Chemistry program at the Cape Grim Baseline Air Monitoring Station, one of the World Meteorological Organization's Global Atmospheric Watch stations; Melita is responsible for monitoring PM10 and PM2.5 mass and chemical composition in baseline air, contributing these data to the international data base for air quality.

Dr Keywood co-organised the Precursor to Particle 2006 (P2P2006) Research Intensive at Cape Grim (February 2006), aimed at investigating new particle formation in the marine environment. Dr Keywood is currently completing some work on organic composition of remote marine boundary layer aerosol.

Dr Keywood is regularly requested to provide expertise advice on particle composition and SOA to government groups. Dr Keywood co-instigated and co-organised the "Something in the Air" Workshop in Canberra in August 2008, which bought together Australian researchers interested the influences of aerosol on climate. The outcome of the meeting was a report setting out a proposal for an Australian Aerosol and Climate Research Program that has used by the Department of Climate Change in developing the National Framework on Climate Change Research that will be implemented in 2009.

Dr Keywood is an author on over 34 refereed journal publications and 30 reports

Publications    

Detailed CV