Bill Wilson
Dr. H. William (Bill) Wilson, emeritus professor of chemistry and former director of scientific technical services, taught at Western for more than 36 years before retiring in 2002. His research has included national projects with NASA as well as local snow chemistry analysis of Mount Baker glaciers. His Ph.D. is from the University of Washington.Don't Eat the Snow
The surfaces of snowfields and glaciers are continuously exposed to a variety of atmospheric debris such as smoke, haze, dust, gases and vapors from natural and man-made sources. As they settle out of the air, these debris often bring a variety of undesirable pollutants including waxes, oils, metals, acids, alkalis and microorganisms. One of the major questions facing environmental scientists concerns the fate of these pollutants. Do they get into the water supply? Do they stay in mountain snows and ices until they are absorbed by bedrock or the scree under glaciers as the glaciers melt? Or is there some mysterious mechanism by which they disappear? William (Bill) Wilson has studied the fate of these contaminants in snowfields and glaciers and has found some rather surprising results that he shares in this presentation.The U-2 Aircraft and Stratospheric Ozone Studies
Made famous in the Cold War era, the U-2 high altitude “spy plane” has been redesigned to serve as an airborne platform for the study of the lower stratosphere and its chemistry, especially ozone. When used in connection with these scientific missions, the newer model is now known as the ER-2 (Earth Resources). It is still used by the military, where it is known as the TR-1. William (Bill) Wilson has been involved with the Atmospheric Dynamics and Chemistry group at the NASA Ames Research Center since 1989 and has extensively studied nitrous oxide in the stratosphere. This gas, used as an anesthetic in medical applications, is found in small amounts at 60,000 to 70,000 feet and higher and is strongly related to the earth’s “ozone holes.” In this presentation, Dr. Wilson shares information about recent stratospheric ozone studies.
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