Thomas Berkemeier

Group Leader
Berkemeier Group
Multiphase Chemistry
+4961313057400
B.1.71

Main Focus

For more information, please also see the Berkemeier Group webpage.

Kinetic Modelling of Physiological Chemistry and Biology
  • Production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the epithelial lining fluid (ELF)
  • Radical yield of chemical reactions in aqueous media

Chemical kinetics of atmospheric multiphase systems

  • Oxidative ageing of atmospheric aerosols
  • Laboratory experiments and modelling of the formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA)

Diffusion in high viscosity systems (esp. semi-solid and glassy organic aerosol)

  • Interplay and competition of chemical reactions and diffusion
  • Ice nucleation of glassy organic aerosol

Curriculum Vitae

Professional Career

since 2020: Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Multiphase Chemistry Department, Mainz, Germany; Group leader for "Chemical Kinetics & Reaction Mechanisms" in the department of Prof. Dr. Ulrich Pöschl.

2018 – 2020: Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Multiphase Chemistry Department, Mainz, Germany; Research on the subject "Kinetic modelling of physiological chemistry in the epithelial lining fluid" with Prof. Dr. Ulrich Pöschl.

2016 – 2018: School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, GA, USA; Postdoctoral Fellow on the subject "Growth, Evaporation and Particle Phase Chemistry of Organic Aerosols" with Dr. Nga Lee (Sally) Ng.
Education

2013 – 2016: Max Planck Planck Graduate Center with the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany; Doctoral thesis with distinction (summa cum laude), supervised by Prof. Dr. Ulrich Pöschl and Prof. Dr. Peter Spichtinger. Research on the subject “Multiphase kinetics of molecular diffusion, phase transitions and chemical reactions in liquid, semi-solid and glassy organic aerosols” in the group of Dr. Manabu Shiraiwa.

2010 – 2012: Universität Bielefeld, Fakultät für Chemie; M.Sc. (1.0) in Chemistry (Physical Chemistry, Theoretical Chemistry). Research on the subject "Modeling the competition of deposition ice nucleation and liquefaction of glassy aerosol particles", co-supervised by Prof. Dr. Thomas Koop and Prof. Dr. Ulrich Pöschl.

2007 – 2010: Universität Bielefeld, Fakultät für Chemie; B.Sc. (1.1) in Chemistry. Research on the subject "Ice growth inhibition by antifreeze glycopeptides and its suppression by boric acid" in the group of Prof. Dr. Thomas Koop.

Teaching
  • 2008-2011: Teaching Assistant at Bielefeld University.
  • 2011: Teaching Assistant Advanced Physical Chemistry at Bielefeld University (Prof. Dr. Thomas Koop).
  • 2016: Teaching Assistant Analytical Chemistry at Max Planck Institute for Chemistry / Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz.
  • 2016-2017: Guest lecturer in the Aerosol Chemistry lecture of Dr. Nga Lee (Sally) Ng at Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA.
Scholarships and Awards
  • Otto Hahn Medal of the Max Planck Society for outstanding scientific achievements of a young scientist, 2016. (weblink)
  • Eckert Postdoctoral Fellowship at Georgia Institute of Technology (USA), 2016.
  • Förderpreis der Friedrich Wilhelm Helweg StiftungBest student award at Bielefeld University, Department of Chemistry, class of 2012. (weblink)
Miscellaneous Professional Activities
Publications

42 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles that received over 1600 citations with h-index 22 according to Web of Science. Below is a list of selected publications. For a complete list, click here or see my Google Scholar Page.

Berkemeier, T., Krüger, M., Feinberg, A., Müller, M., Pöschl, U., and Krieger, U. K.: Accelerating models for multiphase chemical kinetics through machine learning with polynomial chaos expansion and neural networks, EGUsphere [preprint], (2022).

Krüger, M., Wilson, J., Wietzoreck, M., Bandowe, B. A. M., Lammel, G., Schmidt, B., Pöschl, U., Berkemeier, T.: Convolutional neural network prediction of molecular properties for aerosol chemistry and health effects, Natural Sciences, e20220016, (2022).

Berkemeier, T., Mishra, A., Mattei, C., Huisman, A. J., Krieger, U. K., Pöschl, U.: Ozonolysis of Oleic Acid Aerosol Revisited: Multiphase Chemical Kinetics and Reaction Mechanisms, ACS Earth and Space Chem. 5(12), 3313-3323, (2021).

Lelieveld, S., Wilson, J., Dovrou, E., Mishra, A., Lakey, P. S. J., Shiraiwa, M., Poschl, U., Berkemeier, T.: Hydroxyl Radical Production by Air Pollutants in Epithelial Lining Fluid Governed by Interconversion and Scavenging of Reactive Oxygen Species, Environ. Sci. Technol. 55(20), 14069-14079, (2021).

Wilson, J., Pöschl, U., Shiraiwa, M., Berkemeier, T.: Non-equilibrium interplay between gas-particle partitioning and multiphase chemical reactions of semi-volatile compounds: mechanistic insights and practical implications for atmospheric modeling of PAHs, Atmos. Chem. Phys. 21, 6175-6198, (2021).

Wilson, J., Octaviani, M., Bandowe, B. A. M., Wietzoreck, M., Zetzsch, C., Pöschl, U., Berkemeier, T., Lammel, G.: Modeling the Formation, Degradation, and Spatiotemporal Distribution of 2-Nitrofluoranthene and 2-Nitropyrene in the Global Atmosphere, Environ. Sci. Technol. 54(22), 14224-14234, (2020).

Berkemeier, T., Takeuchi, M., Eris, G., Ng, N. L.: Kinetic modelling of formation and evaporation of SOA from NO3 oxidation of pure and mixed monoterpenes, Atmos. Chem. Phys. 20, 15513-15535, (2020).

Shiraiwa, M., Li, Y., Tsimpidi, A. P., Karydis, V. A., Berkemeier, T., Pandis, S. N., Lelieveld, J., Koop, T., Pöschl, U.: Global distribution of particle phase state in atmospheric secondary organic aerosols, Nat Commun. 8, 15002, (2017).

Berkemeier, T., Ammann, M., Krieger, U. K., Peter, T., Spichtinger, P., Pöschl, U., Shiraiwa, M., and Huisman, A. J.: Technical Note: Monte-Carlo genetic algorithm (MCGA) for model analysis of multiphase chemical kinetics to determine transport and reaction rate coefficients using multiple experimental data sets, Atmos. Chem. Phys. 17, 8021-8029, (2017).

Berkemeier, T., Ammann, M., Mentel, T. F., Pöschl, U., and Shiraiwa, M.: Organic nitrate contribution to new particle formation and growth in secondary organic aerosols from α-pinene ozonolysis, Environ. Sci. Technol. 50, 6334-6342, (2016).

Berkemeier, T., Steimer, S. S., Krieger, U. K., Peter, T., Pöschl, U., Ammann, M., and Shiraiwa, M.: Ozone uptake on glassy, semi-solid and liquid organic matter and the role of reactive oxygen intermediates in atmospheric aerosol chemistry, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 18, 12662-12674, (2016). 

Berkemeier, T., Shiraiwa, M., Pöschl, U., and Koop, T.: Competition between water uptake and ice nucleation by glassy organic aerosol particles. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 14, 12513-12531, (2014).

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