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John Nowak, Acting Deputy Director for Earth Action & Scientific Integrity, Science Directorate, NASA Langley Research Center

John Nowak

Deputy Director for Earth Action & Scientific Integrity, Science Directorate, NASA Langley Research Center

Contents

About

Dr. John Nowak serves as the Deputy Director for the Science Directorate at NASA’s Langley Research Center, a role assumed in spring 2026. He previously served as the Acting Deputy Director for Earth Action and Scientific Integrity and as Acting Deputy Director of the Science Directorate, providing leadership and strategic oversight across the directorate’s scientific research portfolio.

Dr. Nowak joined NASA Langley’s Science Directorate in 2016 as part of the trace gas measurement group (DACOM/DLH), conducting airborne measurements of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor during multiple NASA field campaigns. His technical expertise and leadership potential led to two successive details as Assistant Branch Head for the Chemistry and Dynamics Branch. He became Acting Branch Head in early 2022 and was appointed the permanent Head of the Chemistry and Dynamics Branch in September of that year.

Dr. Nowak earned a B.A. in Geophysical Sciences from the University of Chicago, where he conducted laboratory studies of heterogeneous chemical reactions under Professor Jonathan Abbatt. He completed his Ph.D. in Atmospheric Chemistry at the Georgia Institute of Technology under Professor Douglas Davis, developing innovative airborne measurement techniques for dimethylsulfoxide and ammonia using chemical ionization mass spectrometry during the NASA GTE PEM Tropics B campaign.

After graduate school, Dr. Nowak spent more than a decade at NOAA’s Chemical Sciences Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, first as a National Research Council postdoctoral fellow and later as a University of Colorado–CIRES research scientist. There, he refined airborne measurement methods for ammonia and nitric acid. He subsequently transitioned to the private sector, joining Aerodyne Research, Inc., where he applied advanced chemical ionization and time-of-flight mass spectrometry techniques to study highly oxidized gas-phase precursors to organic aerosol formation and conducted measurements of greenhouse gases and aerosol precursors using direct absorption spectroscopy.

Throughout his career, Dr. Nowak has made significant contributions to atmospheric chemistry through innovative measurement technology development, extensive field campaign participation, and scientific leadership. His technical depth and management experience position him well to advance NASA’s Earth science mission.

Publication Bibliography

Select Publications

  • H. S. Halliday, J. P. DiGangi, Y. Choi, G. S. Diskin, S. E. Pusede, M. Rana, J. B. Nowak, C. Knote, X. Ren, H. He, R. R. Dickerson, and Z. Li, Using Short-Term CO/CO2 Ratios to Assess Air Mass Differences over the Korean Peninsula during KORUS-AQ, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 124. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD029697, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD02969
  • Kelly, J. T., Parworth, C. L., Zhang, Q., Miller, D. J., Sun, K., Zondlo, M. A., Baker, K.R., Wisthaler, A., Nowak, J. B., Pusede, S. E., Cohen, R. C., Weinheimer, A. J., Beyersdorf, A. J., Tonnesen, G. S., Bash, J. O., Valin, L. C., Crawford, J. H., Fried, A., Walega, J. G., Modeling NH4NO3 over the San Joaquin Valley during the 2013 DISCOVER‐AQ campaign. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 123. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD028290, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD028290
  • Pusede, S. E., Duffey, K. C., Shusterman, A. A., Saleh, A., Laughner, J. L., Wooldridge, P. J., Zhang, Q., Parworth, C. L., Kim, H., Capps, S. L., Valin, L. C., Cappa, C. D., Fried, A., Walega, J., Nowak, J. B., Weinheimer, A. J., Hoff, R. M., Berkoff, T. A., Beyersdorf, A. J., Olson, J., Crawford, J. H., and Cohen, R. C.: On the effectiveness of nitrogen oxide reductions as a control over ammonium nitrate aerosol, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 2575-2596, doi:10.5194/acp-16-2575-2016, 2016. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-2575-2016
  • Schiferl, L. D., C. L. Heald, J. B. Nowak, J. S. Holloway, J. A. Neuman, R. Bahreini, I. B. Pollack, T. B. Ryerson, C. Wiedinmyer, and J. G. Murphy, An investigation of ammonia and inorganic particulate matter in California during the CalNex campaign, J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 119, 1883–1902, doi:10.1002/2013JD020765, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JD020765
  • Kelly, J. T., K.R. Baker, J.B. Nowak, J.G. Murphy, M.Z. Markovic, T.C. VanderBoer, R.A. Ellis, J.A. Neuman, R.J. Weber, J.M. Roberts, P.R. Veres, J.A. deGouw, M.R. Beaver, S. Newman, C. Misenis, Fine-scale simulation of ammonium and nitrate over the South Coast Air Basin and San Joaquin Valley of California during CalNex-2010, J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 119, 3600–3614, doi:10.1002/2013JD021290, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JD021290
  • Nowak, J.B., J.A. Neuman, R. Bahreini, A.M. Middlebrook, J.S. Holloway, S. A. McKeen, D.D. Parrish, T.B. Ryerson, and M. Trainer, Ammonia sources in the California South Coast Air Basin and their impact on ammonium nitrate formation, Geophy. Res. Lett., 39, L07804, doi:10.1029/2012GL051197, 2012 https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GL051197
  • Nowak, J.B., J. A. Neuman, K. Kozai, L. G. Huey, D. J. Tanner, J. S. Holloway, T. B. Ryerson, G. J. Frost, S. A. McKeen, and F.C. Fehsenfeld, A Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry Technique for Airborne Measurements of Ammonia, J. Geophys. Res., 112, D10S02, doi:10.1029/2006JD007589, 2007. https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JD007589
  • Nowak, J.B., D.D. Davis, G. Chen, F.L. Eisele, R.L. Mauldin III, D.J. Tanner, C. Cantrell, E. Kosciuch, A. Bandy, D. Thornton, and A. Clarke, Airborne Observations of DMSO, DMS, and OH at Marine Tropical Latitudes, Geophy. Res. Lett., Vol. 28, No. 11, 2201-2204, 2001. https://doi.org/10.1029/2000GL012297

Education/Professional Experience

  • Research Physical Scientist, NASA Langley Research Center
  • Senior Scientist, Aerodyne Research, Inc.
  • Research Scientist, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science (CIRES), University of Colorado
  • Ph.D., Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • B.A., Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago

Professional Memberships

  • American Geophysical Union (AGU)
  • American Chemical Society (ACS)
  • American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS)

Contact / Program Home Links

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