Dr. Britt A. Holmén (Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering) has over 15 years of experience measuring air pollutants. She directs the Transportation Air Quality Laboratory (TAQ Lab) at the University of Vermont where research on ultrafine particle and gas-phase emissions from vehicles is conducted to elucidate their effects on human and environmental health. She designed the TOTEMS system to quantify real-world vehicle tailpipe emissions and pioneered efforts to quantify particle emissions from alternative vehicles using these techniques. Current TAQ Lab research foci include real-world hybrid-electric vehicle and biodiesel fuel effects on tailpipe emissions of particles and air toxic gases.

            Prior to joining UVM in August 2006, Dr. Holmén was on the Civil & Environmental Engineering faculty at the University of Connecticut for five years where she conducted research on real-world hybrid transit bus particle emissions as well as fugitive emissions from agriculture sources. Her past appointments include research and adjunct faculty positions at the University of California Davis, where her interests in air pollution and vehicle emissions research evolved beyond her academic training in water/solid interfacial chemistry.