Andrew Rice is an associate professor in the Department of Physics. His teaching is primarily in the field of physics and includes courses in general physics (mechanics, waves, optics, thermodynamics), major-specific courses thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, mathematical methods in physics, experimental methods, and general education courses in meteorology and radiation in environmental fields. His dedication to teaching and learning earned him the John Elliot Allen Outstanding Teacher Award three times in the College. Dr. Rice is also the undergraduate advisor for physics majors at PSU, helping students plan academics and extra-curricular activities (e.g., research). His primary research interests are in the study of long-lived greenhouse gases and in the use of stable isotopes in atmospheric trace gases to understand drivers of short and long-term variability in their atmospheric abundance. Dr. Rice founded and runs the PSU Stable Isotope Lab. He was a founding member of the Center for Climate and Aerosol Research at PSU (CCAR) and now is lead investigator in the CCAR NSF REU program.
In the PSU Stable Isotope Laboratory, our research focuses on understanding the drivers of global climate change through contributing to a better scientific understanding of greenhouse gas (GHG) sources and sinks. We develop and apply high-precision techniques to measure greenhouse gases and their stable isotopic composition as a means to assess GHG fluxes at a variety of scales, from the process-level to the global atmosphere. Current research projects that involve graduate and undergraduate students include measurements of CO2 and CH4 in the Portland Metropolitan Region for validation-verification of GHG fluxes as part of the CO2-USA Network, and interpreting temporal changes in global CH4 and N2O sources through the analysis of their stable isotopic composition.