A&WMA RTP Chapter
Join us for our July Virtual Lunch Meeting
Wednesday, July 22, 2026 @ 12:00PM EDT
Dr. Xiaorong (Sherry) Shan
Environmental Policy and Data Center Fellow,
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VA DEQ)
VIRTUAL ONLY
Join us on Zoom!
Zoom Link*
Source-Specific Air Quality Exposure Assessments for Applications in Regulatory Assessments and Public Health Making
Abstract
Long-term exposure to air pollution contributes substantially to mortality and other health endpoints, yet historical exposure patterns remain poorly characterized because widespread ambient monitoring in the United States began only in the 1970s. As a result, little is known about how exposure from major emission sources evolved during earlier decades or how regulatory policies altered these trajectories. This dissertation examines the evolution of air pollution exposure across the contiguous United States from the mid-20th century to the present, with emphasis on source-specific exposure and the role of energy and transportation transitions.
The first component reconstructs county-level exposure to multiple pollution sources for 1940 and compares these estimates with conditions in 2010. Exposure metrics are developed for total PM₂.₅, traffic-related air pollution, oil and gas well emissions, power plant emissions, and residential coal combustion. Because direct measurements are unavailable for early decades, several modeling approaches are applied and evaluated using more recent observations. Comparisons with monitoring data available after the 1970s provide a basis for assessing model performance using correlation statistics and other evaluation metrics, allowing reconstruction methods to be assessed in periods with reliable observations.
Subsequent analyses examine long-term emissions and exposure from major energy and transportation sources. Facility-level emissions from U.S. power plants are reconstructed for each decade between 1940 and 2020 and linked with atmospheric transport modeling to estimate resulting PM₂.₅ exposure. Additional analyses focus on traffic-related air pollution at higher resolution spatial scales, examining exposure patterns from 2011 onward using high-resolution modeling that captures near-road gradients and urban variability. These analyses provide a multi-decadal perspective on how shifts in energy production, transportation activity, and regulatory actions have reshaped air pollution exposure across the United States.
Biography
Xiaorong (Sherry) Shan recently earned her Ph.D. in Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering from George Mason University. Her research focuses on source-specific air pollution emissions and exposure assessment, with an emphasis on developing historical and contemporary source-specific exposure estimates for applications in environmental epidemiology and public health. Her work integrates atmospheric modeling, emissions inventories, geospatial analysis, and environmental data science to improve characterization of exposure from transportation, power plants, and other emission sources.
Sherry is currently serving as an Environmental Policy & Data Center Fellow at the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VA DEQ), where she supports environmental justice initiatives and data center policy by integrating air quality, energy infrastructure, demographic, and geospatial datasets to inform environmental decision-making.
As she begins the next stage of her career, Sherry is seeking opportunities in environmental consulting, air quality modeling, environmental policy, and data science. She is passionate about translating scientific research into practical solutions that support healthier communities and evidence-based environmental policy.
Have questions? Please contact awma.rtpc@gmail.com and someone from the Board of Directors will follow up.