Dr. Kevin Perry has been studying air quality for over 20 years. Perry has monitored plumes from the World Trade Center collapse, smoke from pyrotechnic firework displays, and more recently he has been studying dust blowing off Great Salt Lake. He has deployed equipment to monitor ambient air from the ground, from ships, from the sky, and from high-altitude mountain observatories around the world. Perry recently explored 800 square miles of Great Salt Lake lakebed over 2 years, on his bicycle. This added to his previous work of trying to understand how mercury is transported in the air, and how bad air quality can impact birth outcomes. He served as chair of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the U. He currently teaches atmospheric sciences courses on air quality, health, and society.