Cora Young, associate professor of chemistry and the Guy Warwick Rogers Chair in Chemistry in the Faculty of Science, has been named the 2022 recipient of the Environment Division Early Career Research Award from the Chemical Institute of Canada.
Young’s research team focuses on the development and use of important science analytical techniques to probe chemical mechanisms relevant to pollutants, indoor and outdoor air quality and climate change.
The Environment Division Early Career Research Award recognizes an outstanding early career researcher who has made distinguished contributions in the fields of environmental chemistry or environmental chemical engineering, while working in any sector in Canada, including academia, government, industry, for-profit/not-for-profit and the private and public sector.
Young completed her PhD at the University of Toronto and a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Boulder, Colorado. There, she developed new optical techniques to study trace reactive species that impact air quality, including nitrous acid. Young was an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at Memorial University from 2012-17. She joined the Department of Chemistry at York University in July of 2017 as the Guy Warwick Rogers Chair in Chemistry. Her research focuses on the development and application of new analytical techniques to increase our understanding of issues in air quality, climate change, and pollutant transport.
She has published more than 60 peer-reviewed papers and was recently named as one of Chemical and Engineering News’ “Talented 12.” Her work has been widely covered in the media and she works with community organizations and the media to ensure the effective communication of environmental chemistry concepts.