John Nowak (NASA)
Title: Acting Deputy Director of the Science Directorate
Technical Focus Area: Chemistry & Dynamics, Air Quality & Weather, Airborne Science
Study Topics: Atmospheric Chemistry, Air Quality, Tropospheric Chemistry, Greenhouse Gases, Climate, Spectroscopy
Missions/Projects: DACOM/DLH
Email: john.b.nowak@nasa.gov
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About:
In 2024, Dr. John Nowak became the Acting Deputy Director of the Science Directorate at NASA’s Langley Research Center.
In 2016, Dr. Nowak joined NASA Langley Science Directorate’s trace gas group (DACOM/DLH), making measurements of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor from aircraft for several NASA field campaigns. In addition to working in the trace gas measurement group, he did two details as the Chemistry and Dynamics Assistant Branch Head before becoming Acting Branch Head in the beginning of 2022. In September of 2022, Dr. Nowak was named full-time, permanent Head of the Chemistry and Dynamics Branch.
In earlier years, Dr. Nowak received a B.A. in Geophysical Sciences from the University of Chicago under Professor Jonathan Abbatt performing laboratory experiments studying heterogenous chemical reactions. He attended graduate school at the Georgia Institute of Technology finishing a PhD in Atmospheric Chemistry under Professor Douglas Davis, where he developed a technique for airborne measurements of dimethylsulfoxide and ammonia using chemical ionization mass spectrometry for the NASA GTE PEM Tropics B campaign.
After grad school, he spent over a decade at the NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory in Boulder, CO, first as a National Research Council post-doc and then as a University of Colorado-CIRES research scientist, improving and refining airborne measurements of ammonia and nitric acid. John switched gears to the private sector for a few years joining Aerodyne Research, Inc. where he used various chemical ionization techniques with time-of-flight mass spectrometry to measure highly oxidized gas phase precursors for organic aerosol and aerosol composition; and measured greenhouse gases, methane and nitrous oxide, and aerosol precursors, ammonia and nitric acid, via direct absorption spectroscopy.
Publication Bibliography:
Publications:
- H. S. Halliday, J. P. DiGangi, Y. Choi, G. S. Diskin, S. E. Pusede, M. Rana, J. B. Nowak, C. Knote, X. Ren, H. He, R. R. Dickerson, and Z. Li, Using Short-Term CO/CO2 Ratios to Assess Air Mass Differences over the Korean Peninsula during KORUS-AQ, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 124. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD029697, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD02969
- Kelly, J. T., Parworth, C. L., Zhang, Q., Miller, D. J., Sun, K., Zondlo, M. A., Baker, K.R., Wisthaler, A., Nowak, J. B., Pusede, S. E., Cohen, R. C., Weinheimer, A. J., Beyersdorf, A. J., Tonnesen, G. S., Bash, J. O., Valin, L. C., Crawford, J. H., Fried, A., Walega, J. G., Modeling NH4NO3 over the San Joaquin Valley during the 2013 DISCOVER‐AQ campaign. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 123. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD028290, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD028290
- Pusede, S. E., Duffey, K. C., Shusterman, A. A., Saleh, A., Laughner, J. L., Wooldridge, P. J., Zhang, Q., Parworth, C. L., Kim, H., Capps, S. L., Valin, L. C., Cappa, C. D., Fried, A., Walega, J., Nowak, J. B., Weinheimer, A. J., Hoff, R. M., Berkoff, T. A., Beyersdorf, A. J., Olson, J., Crawford, J. H., and Cohen, R. C.: On the effectiveness of nitrogen oxide reductions as a control over ammonium nitrate aerosol, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 2575-2596, doi:10.5194/acp-16-2575-2016, 2016. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-2575-2016
- Schiferl, L. D., C. L. Heald, J. B. Nowak, J. S. Holloway, J. A. Neuman, R. Bahreini, I. B. Pollack, T. B. Ryerson, C. Wiedinmyer, and J. G. Murphy, An investigation of ammonia and inorganic particulate matter in California during the CalNex campaign, J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 119, 1883–1902, doi:10.1002/2013JD020765, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JD020765
- Kelly, J. T., K.R. Baker, J.B. Nowak, J.G. Murphy, M.Z. Markovic, T.C. VanderBoer, R.A. Ellis, J.A. Neuman, R.J. Weber, J.M. Roberts, P.R. Veres, J.A. deGouw, M.R. Beaver, S. Newman, C. Misenis, Fine-scale simulation of ammonium and nitrate over the South Coast Air Basin and San Joaquin Valley of California during CalNex-2010, J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 119, 3600–3614, doi:10.1002/2013JD021290, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JD021290
- Nowak, J.B., J.A. Neuman, R. Bahreini, A.M. Middlebrook, J.S. Holloway, S. A. McKeen, D.D. Parrish, T.B. Ryerson, and M. Trainer, Ammonia sources in the California South Coast Air Basin and their impact on ammonium nitrate formation, Geophy. Res. Lett., 39, L07804, doi:10.1029/2012GL051197, 2012 https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GL051197
- Nowak, J.B., J. A. Neuman, K. Kozai, L. G. Huey, D. J. Tanner, J. S. Holloway, T. B. Ryerson, G. J. Frost, S. A. McKeen, and F.C. Fehsenfeld, A Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry Technique for Airborne Measurements of Ammonia, J. Geophys. Res., 112, D10S02, doi:10.1029/2006JD007589, 2007. https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JD007589
- Nowak, J.B., D.D. Davis, G. Chen, F.L. Eisele, R.L. Mauldin III, D.J. Tanner, C. Cantrell, E. Kosciuch, A. Bandy, D. Thornton, and A. Clarke, Airborne Observations of DMSO, DMS, and OH at Marine Tropical Latitudes, Geophy. Res. Lett., Vol. 28, No. 11, 2201-2204, 2001. https://doi.org/10.1029/2000GL012297
Education/Professional Experience:
- Research Physical Scientist, NASA Langley Research Center
- Senior Scientist, Aerodyne Research, Inc.
- Research Scientist, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science (CIRES), University of Colorado
- Ph.D., Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology
- B.A., Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago
Professional Memberships:
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS)