The Cyprus Institute

Rima Baalbaki

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Rima has a strong background in environmental and atmospheric sciences. Her early career began with an internship at the Environmental Core Laboratory at the American University of Beirut (AUB), where she acquired practical skills in chromatography, spectrophotometry, and quality assurance. She then continued at AUB as a research assistant for six years, collaborating across various labs and departments. Her primary focus was on air quality in the Atmospheric and Analytical Laboratory, where she coordinated field sampling campaigns to investigate particulate matter pollution throughout Lebanon and maintained an air quality monitoring station equipped with gas analyzers and aerosol instruments. Rima also engaged in collaborative research with Virginia Commonwealth University at AUB's Aerosol Research Lab, where she analyzed the chemical components of emissions from e-cigarettes and waterpipes. In collaboration with AUB’s Nature Conservation Center, she led a citizen science initiative to tackle water contamination issues within a local community. Her PhD work at the University of Helsinki expanded her expertise into atmospheric new particle formation, where she engaged in various field and experimental campaigns. At CERN, she participated in three CLOUD campaigns and co-led the MSA nucleation experiments. She also conducted the first long-term measurements of new particle formation and sub-3nm particle measurements in Cyprus. Besides her research, Rima has taught courses on aerosol measurement techniques and data analysis. She values hands-on experience with instruments and coding and dislikes black boxes.