Anthony Wexler

Anthony Wexler is a Distinguished Professor at the University of California, Davis, holding joint appointments in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Land, Air and Water Resources. He serves as Director of the Air Quality Research Center (AQRC), leading research on air pollution dynamics, health impacts, and advanced instrumentation. His work bridges atmospheric science, engineering, and public health, with a focus on developing new measurement tools and models to understand pollution dispersion and exposure risks.

• Positions: Distinguished Professor across three departments
• Affiliations: AQRC, UC Davis College of Engineering

Research interests include aerosol physics, particulate matter behavior, climate impacts of pollutants, and health effects of exposure. Notable projects involve the IMPROVE network for national parks air quality monitoring and EPA contract work on chemical speciation analysis. He pioneered studies on traffic-related air pollution effects on neurodegenerative diseases and developed low-cost air sensors for community use.

Recent work explores machine learning applications in atmospheric modeling, including photochemical processes and aerosol transport. His lab has innovated spark-induced breakdown spectroscopy for real-time metal detection and designed highly efficient facemask geometries to reduce aerosol transmission during pandemics.

Collaborations span government agencies (EPA, National Park Service), industry, and international research networks. Ongoing efforts focus on carbon capture technologies using biomimetic absorbents and AI-driven conservation laws for computational efficiency in environmental models.