---
title: "Students go on-site to learn about greenhouse gas emissions"
description: "By Mary Beth KingUNM Undergraduate Research, Arts & Design Network"
type: News
tags:
- News
date: "2022-05"
generated:
by: "process:scripts/port_legacy_pages.py"
at: "2026-09-10T00:00:00Z"
sources:
- id: carc-web
resource: "https://carc.unm.edu/news--events/News/students-learn-about-greenhouse-gas-emissions.html"
title: "Students go on-site to learn about greenhouse gas emissions (carc.unm.edu)"
author: "team:unm-carc"
---
# Students go on-site to learn about greenhouse gas emissions
By Mary Beth King · May 2022
By Mary Beth King
[UNM Undergraduate Research, Arts & Design
Network](https://urad.unm.edu/){target=_blank}
University of New Mexico Earth and Planetary Sciences students, led by
Environmental Science professor Joseph Galewsky, recently left the classroom
and went into the field to get firsthand experience studying greenhouse gas
emissions. The project-based experience was a capstone course for graduating
seniors with the aim to better quantify gas emissions from various sources and
their effect on climate change.
Galewsky, who studies links and feedbacks between climate and the solid Earth,
took 13 graduating seniors pursuing bachelor of science degrees in
Environmental Sciences and master of science degrees in water resources to
several sites around New Mexico to study greenhouse gas emissions. The project
was to compare and better quantify reported emissions ̶ which, he said, are
often “[notoriously
under-reported](https://www.edf.org/nm-oil-gas/){target=_blank}” ̶ with those
measured on-site by the students.
“We measured greenhouse gas emissions across a wide range of settings ̶
landfills, agriculture, natural settings in the bosque and in the Sandias, and
emissions associated with oil and gas production,” Galewsky explained. “We
made several field trips in the area, including to a local organic farm, Vida
Verde Farms, and the Los Angeles Landfill near the Balloon Fiesta Park. And we
made a special trip to southeast New Mexico, south of Carlsbad, to measure
methane leaks associated with oil and gas development.”
The team used data from the [TROPOMI
satellite](http://www.tropomi.eu/){target=_blank} ̶ which monitors atmospheric
gases such as ozone, sulfur dioxide, and methane ̶ and a backpack-mounted
monitor called a GasScouter to measure methane leaks at the different sites.
“The students gained expertise in using remote sensing data and in-situ
spectroscopic measurements of greenhouse gas emissions,” Galewsky noted. “They
also gained experience analyzing satellite data using the computing resources
from the UNM Center for Advanced Research Computing.”
A variety of career opportunities lies ahead for these students.
“Joe's class helped open my eyes to the reality of some of the job fields for
environmental science majors,” said David Atkin, a senior graduating this
semester with a double major in Environmental Science and Spanish. “We tend to
think about aiding climate change in some large, direct way. Often, we
learned, change happens by many smaller acts. Moving forward I would like to
continue my studies with a master's degree in renewable energy and
sustainability. This was a plan I already had but this class helped solidify
that this is something I want to pursue. The class provided great insight both
to potential job fields for environmental science majors as well as a look
into the massive infrastructures in place that are directly changing our
climate.”
“These students can work in a wide range of environmental consulting work, or
in government labs like Sandia or LANL or they can also work in science-based
advocacy like the Environmental Defense Fund,” Galewsky said.
“It was exciting to be able to work with students on a problem of genuine
scientific and societal relevance right here in New Mexico,” he added.
**Photo courtesy of the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department: **Students
David Atkin, Issac Martinez, and Stephen Sanders discussing soil greenhouse
gas emissions from soils at Vida Verde Farms, a 5-acre small scale organic
farm in the Albuquerque North Valley.