Richard E. Peltier

Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Dr. Rick Peltier is trained as an atmospheric chemist (PhD, Georgia Tech, 2007), with specific interest in human exposure and health outcomes related to air pollution. He combines novel engineering approaches to improve our understanding of chemical components most closely related to a number of health endpoints. He has a specific interest in particulate matter.

Dr. Peltier received his PhD in Atmospheric Chemistry from the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Georgia Tech. He also holds a Master of Public Health in Environmental Health from Columbia University. His dissertation research investigated aerosol chemical composition throughout North America and included extensive experience in field studies (including a number of aircraft-based investigations), laboratory calibration, and instrument design. Field study experience includes work on the NEAQS, INTEX-B, and MIRAGE/MILAGRO, where he coupled a Particle-Into-Liquid Sampler for autonomous operating using a variety of analytical chemistry techniques.

Following his dissertation work, he held a Postdoctoral Fellowship at New York University School of Medicine in the Department of Environmental Medicine from 2007-2010. Working primarily under the mentorship of Professor Morton Lippmann, Dr. Peltier applied state-of-the-art chemical characterization methods to a number of ongoing toxicological investigations. This included pilot investigations of fracturing of large crustal materials to smaller sizes (mimicking tire and road processing of settled dust), resuspension of whole dust samples collected in lower Manhattan after September 11th, 2001, and management of their X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy facilities. He was awarded a highly competitive K99 research grant from the National Institute of Science in 2009 and is the 2012 recipient of the Walter Rosenblith New Investigator Award from the Health Effects Institute.

Dr. Peltier maintains an active research lab with both analytical laboratory and machine shop facilities. He is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, and is a member of the American Thoracic Society, American Association of Aerosol Science, and the International Society of Exposure Science. He is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts.