Today Greeley West’s College Environmental Science classes hosted their annual air symposium where students presented their research about a variety of different topics and questions surrounding air quality. Their topics ranged from different perfumes and air fresheners to the effects of spice level on air quality. 

They got this opportunity thanks to their partnership with CU’s Hannigan lab which provided the  Airpods that students used to test air quality as well as teaching lessons to give students a basic scientific understanding to base their research questions on. 

Junior Moe Nasim used the opportunity to do his research on the effect that liquid nicotine and marijuana has on air quality and the subsequent effects on the lungs. Nasim stated that his studies found, “people who smoke inhale 2000 p.m. (particular matter) which is nine times higher than what is classified as the ‘hazardous zone’ by the Air Quality Index.”

When asked about what it meant to him to be able to share the results of his research with other students he stated that, “Honestly it felt amazing because the first group of students that I presented to was mostly freshmen, and I feel like it’s obvious that some of these kids smoke. So seeing their reaction to how much p.m. they inhale every time they take a hit astonished me because they were all very surprised and almost didn’t believe me.” 

Nasim said that he isn’t sure if he influenced anyone into quitting smoking, but at the very least he spread awareness about the dangers of smoking. 

Nasim and all the other students who participated also wanted to thank their mentors from CU for the role they played in guiding them along the process of conducting and presenting their research. Junior Hillary Garcia, said, “They taught me all about VOCs and the air quality which allowed me to figure out what exactly I wanted to do with my project. They also helped me organize and format my findings so it could look professional.”