The UW College of the Environment is pleased to announce that Professor Joel Thornton has agreed to serve for a five-year term as director of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, effective July 1, 2022. Thornton is an atmospheric scientist who studies the impacts of human activities on air quality and climate through changes to the atmosphere’s composition and chemistry. His focus is on the processes which regulate the formation and removal of short-lived greenhouse gasses such as methane and