Dr. Liu

 

 

 

 

  • School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
  • Ford Environmental Science & Technology Building
  • Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Email: pengfei.liu [at] eas.gatech.edu
  • Office: ES&T 3238

Dr. Pengfei Liu joined Georgia Tech as an Assistant Professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences in 2020. Prior to joining in Georgia Tech, he was a Postdoc Fellow in the Atmospheric Chemistry Modeling Group at Harvard, where he examined the historical biomass burning emissions using ice core records and chemical transport modeling. Dr. Liu’s PhD work at Harvard focused on the development of new experimental methods to characterize the physical, thermodynamic, and optical properties of secondary organic aerosol material. By combining laboratory experiments, field measurements, and atmospheric chemistry modeling, Dr. Liu’s group aims to improve the understanding of the processes and properties of atmospheric aerosol particles.

Academic appointments

  • Assistant Professor (2020 – ), School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Postdoc Fellow (2018-2020), Harvard University, Atmospheric Chemistry Modeling

Education

  • Ph.D. (2017), Harvard University, Environmental Science and Engineering
  • M.S. (2011), Peking University, Atmospheric Physics and Environment
  • B.S. (2008), Peking University, Atmospheric Sciences

Honors

  • 2025 Sigma Xi Young Faculty Award, Georgia Tech
  • 2025 BBISS Faculty Fellow, Georgia Tech
  • 2017 Selected participant of ACCESS XIV
  • 2013-2016 NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship 

Selected Publications

  • L. Yin, B. Bai, B. Zhang, Q. Zhu, Q. Di, W. J. Requia, J. D. Schwartz, L. Shi, P. Liu*, Regional-specific trends of PM2.5 and O3 temperature sensitivity in the United States. npj Climate and Atmospheric Science 8, 12 (2025).
  • B. Zhang, N. J. Chellman, J. O. Kaplan, L. J. Mickley, T. Ito, X. Wang, S. M. Wensman, D. McCrimmon, J. P. Steffensen, J. R. McConnell, P. Liu*, Improved biomass burning emissions from 1750 to 2010 using ice core records and inverse modeling. Nature Communications 15, 3651 (2024).
  • Y. Wang, P. Liu*, J. Schwartz, E. Castro, W. Wang, H. Chang, N. Scovronick, L. Shi*, Disparities in ambient nitrogen dioxide pollution in the United States. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 120, e2208450120 (2023).
  •  P. Liu, J. O. Kaplan, L. J. Mickley, Y. Li, N. J. Chellman, M. M. Arienzo, J. K. Kodros, J. R. Pierce, M. Sigl, J. Freitag, R. Mulvaney, M. A. J. Curran, J. R. McConnell, Improved estimates of preindustrial biomass burning reduce the magnitude of aerosol climate forcing in the Southern Hemisphere. Science Advances 7, eabc1379 (2021).
  • S. S. Gunthe*, P. Liu*, U. Panda, S. S. Raj, A. Sharma, E. Darbyshire, E. Reyes-Villegas, J. Allan, Y. Chen, X. Wang, S. Song, M. L. Pöhlker, L. Shi, Y. Wang, S. M. Kommula, T. Liu, R. Ravikrishna, G. McFiggans, L. J. Mickley, S. T. Martin, U. Pöschl, M. O. Andreae, H. Coe, Enhanced aerosol particle growth sustained by high continental chlorine emission in India. Nature Geoscience 14, 77-84 (2021).
  • P. Liu, M. Song, T. Zhao, S. S. Gunthe, S. Ham, Y. He, Y. M. Qin, Z. Gong, J. C. Amorim, A. K. Bertram, S. T. Martin, Resolving the mechanisms of hygroscopic growth and cloud condensation nuclei activity for organic particulate matter. Nature Communications 9, 4076 (2018).