Iván Higuera-Mendieta had never experienced a wildfire season before arriving in California as a Stanford University Ph.D. student. Then, during a bike ride around Palo Alto in the summer of 2021, the Colombian-born researcher noticed what smelled like a neighborhood barbecue.
He remarked to his colleagues how interesting it was that it smelled like wood outside.
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He recalls their response with a laugh: “People said, ‘Well, it’s fire season, dummy. You shouldn’t be outside. It’s bad for you.”
The experience prompted Higuera-Mendieta to investigate a question that has become increasingly urgent in California: How can we reduce smoke from future wildfires?
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