Alexandra Ponette-González, Ph.D.

Areas of Expertise 

• Urban ecosystems 

• Air quality and atmospheric deposition 

• Atmosphere-land interactions 

• Montane watersheds 

• Global change 

• Canopy water budgets 

Background 

Alexandra Ponette-González is Curator of Urban Ecology at the Natural History Museum of Utah and Associate Professor of City & Metropolitan Planning. She studies how changes in our atmosphere caused by urban pollution, fire, and dust affect ecosystems on land.  A major thrust of her research program focuses on interactions between air quality and urban forests. She is currently investigating how digital technologies influence equity and environmental justice in urban forest planning. She is also collaborating with colleagues to better understand the diverse suite of tiny particles, including soot and microplastics, that flow through forest canopies when it rains. In the future, she plans to utilize museum-based collections to study historical air pollution in the Salt Lake region, and the implications for urban planning. 

Ponette-González is the recipient of a prestigious 5-year National Science Foundation CAREER award. Her project investigated the role of city trees in scrubbing black carbon from urban atmospheres. Ponette-González is a chartered member of the U.S. EPA Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee and the American Association of Geographers Honors Committee B. She is currently an editorial board member for Progress in Physical Geography (2020-present) and Frontiers in Water (2021-present). She has published works in prominent peer-reviewed journals, including Annals of the American Association of Geographers, BioScience, Environmental Science & Technology, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, and Global Change Biology. She has served as a panelist and reviewer for multiple National Science Foundation programs and as an ad hoc reviewer for ~30 journals.  

Alexandra is a highly collaborative and interdisciplinary scholar. She received her Ph.D. from Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (2009), a M.A. in Geography from the University of Texas at Austin (2002), and B.A. in Psychology from United States International University in Mexico City.  She is enthusiastic about the creative application of science-based research to urban planning and design questions.