• Prof. Davis grew up in New Mexico, where the abundant sunshine fueled his interest in how light interacts with matter. He pursued undergraduate studies at Colorado State, where he became fascinated with spectroscopy and the chemistry of confined environments working with Prof. Nancy Levinger. He pursued PhD studies at the University of Colorado studying aerosol phase transitions with Prof. Margaret Tolbert. As a postdoctoral fellow at Berkeley Labs with Dr. Kevin Wilson, he studied chemical reactivity in microdroplets. In 2018, he joined the faculty of Trinity, where his research focuses on the chemistry and physics of aerosol particles and micro-droplets to address global issues in environmental and public health.

    • Postdoc in Physical Chemistry, Lawrence Berkeley National Labs
    • Ph.D. in Atmospheric/Analytical Chemistry, University of Colorado
    • M.S. in Physical Chemistry, University of California San-Diego
    • B.S. in Chemistry, Colorado State University
    • "Dual-Balance Electrodynamic Trap as a Micro-Analytical Tool for Identifying Gel Transitions and Viscous Properties of Levitated Aerosol Particles". Richards DS, Trobaugh KL, Hajek-Herrera J, Davis RD. Analytical Chemistry. 92(4), 3086-3094. DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.9b04487.
    • “Colliding-droplet microreactor: rapid on-demand inertial mixing and metal-catalyzed aqueous-phase oxidation processes.” Davis RD, Jacobs MI, Houle FA, Wilson KR (2017) Analytical Chemistry 89(22): 12494-12501. DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.7b03601. Highlighted in Chemical and Engineering News, 95(46): 16-18 (Nov. 20, 2017 issue).
    • “Crystal nucleation initiated by transient ion-surface interactions at aerosol interfaces.” Davis RD, Tolbert MA (2017) Science Advances 3(7):e1700425, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1700425. 
    • “Contact efflorescence as a pathway for crystallization of atmospherically relevant particles.” Davis RD, Lance S, Gordon JA, Ushijima SB, Tolbert MA (2015) Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 112(52):15815-15820, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1522860113.
    • “Long working-distance optical trap for in situ analysis of contact-induced phase transformations.” Davis RD, Lance S, Gordon JA, Tolbert MA (2015) Analytical Chemistry 87:6186-6194, DOI: 10.1021/acs.anal chem.5b00809.
    • Physical, Analytical, and Atmospheric Chemistry