BIOGRAPHY:

Dr. Christopher Blaszczak-Boxe is a lifelong educator that uses numerical-modeling platforms to assess the atmospheric evolution of planets on various timescales. For Earth, he focuses on air quality modeling. On the experimental front, he participates in field and laboratory studies that assess the abundance of potentially toxic substances in indoor/outdoor environments and their potential impacts on human health. The majority of his field work takes place in New York and Pennsylvania. At Penn State, he is an Associate Research Professor in the Department of Geosciences, an Associate at their Earth and Environmental Science Institute and Institute of Computational and Data Sciences, and Co-Director of PSU EnvironMentors. Dr. Boxe also implements STEM-education initiatives to help increase, retain, and inevitably steer students toward STEM disciplines and careers. His work converges at the nexuses of sustainable and environmental research, education, and justice.

Dr. Boxe earned a B.S. in Chemistry and a Minor in Math from Morehouse College in 1999 and later completed a Ph.D. in Environmental Science & Engineering at Caltech in 2005 (along with a Minor in Geology, an MS in Environmental Science & Engineering and an MS in Planetary Science).  Since graduating, he worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Earth & Space Science Division (as a Research Scientist), the City University of New York (as an Associate Professor & Deputy Chair), and several STEM-focused high schools within the borough of Brooklyn (as an AP/Regents Teacher).