{"id":619,"date":"2016-12-19T12:12:27","date_gmt":"2016-12-19T17:12:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/carleton.ca\/camg\/?post_type=cu-people&p=619"},"modified":"2019-04-29T12:55:04","modified_gmt":"2019-04-29T16:55:04","slug":"melanie","status":"publish","type":"cu-people","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/camg\/people\/melanie\/","title":{"rendered":"Melanie"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction and Research Interests<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hi! My name is Melanie Fillingham, and I am currently working towards my Masters in Applied Science in Environmental Engineering. I completed my bachelors here at Carleton University, also in Environmental Engineering, graduating in 2015.<\/p>\n

My thesis project is on assessing the impact of grid resolution on forward and backward sensitivity results from air quality models. I am looking at how changing the grid size in which a domain is modeled over changes the accuracy of the results, both through forward and backward sensitivities. Specifically, I will be looking at the health burdens related to ozone, and the ozone sensitivity to changes in ozone precursors (NOx and VOCs).<\/p>\n

The forward sensitivity method involves the usage of the decoupled direct method (DDM) applied to CMAQv5.0.2 in which the sensitivity between model input (grid size) and the model output (predicted concentrations) is determined through parametric differentiation with respect to the horizontal grid size.<\/strong> The second approach involves running CMAQv4.5.1-adjoint at progressively refined resolutions of 36km, 12km, 4km and 1km, with the smallest resolution domain being over the Greater Toronto Area.<\/p>\n

Teaching Experience<\/strong><\/p>\n

Besides research, I am a teaching assistant. I truly enjoy teaching and appreciate the reward gained knowing that I have successfully taught a student something new. Being able to play a role in the learning process of many students is beyond fulfilling. My opportunity to assist in teaching at Carleton has opened my eyes to the potential in pursuing a career involving some aspect of teaching. I obtained the EDC (Educational Development Centre) award for Outstanding TA of the year, at both the department level (Civil and Environmental Engineering) as well as being one of five recipients at the university level. I received this award for my contribution to teaching CIVE2700 (Civil Materials) in 2016. I am now honoured to be on the selection committee for selecting the 2017 EDC Outstanding TA award recipients, working alongside the VP of Academics. I am also working towards my EDC Certificate, to help with my teaching development. The following are a list of classes that I have had the opportunity to TA:<\/p>\n