John Birks
Biographical Sketch
Dr. John W. Birks is co-founder and Chief Scientist of 2B Technologies. Having served 15 years as President of 2B Tech, he now serves in an advisory role and directs R&D. John is Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, where he served as Department Chair, and Fellow Emeritus of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) of the University of Colorado, Boulder. John earned a B.S. degree in Chemistry with High Honors at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville in 1968 and a Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley in 1974 under the direction of Professor Harold Johnston.
Dr. Birks began his academic career at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1974 where he established a research group in atmospheric chemistry investigating mechanisms of ozone depletion in the stratosphere. In 1977 Prof. Birks moved his research group to the University of Colorado where he could collaborate more closely with CIRES, NCAR and NOAA scientists. Prof. Birks is best known for quantifying the rates of several chemical reactions key to understanding ozone depletion in the Antarctic “ozone hole”, his seminal work in 1981/82 with Paul Crutzen (Nobel Laureate, 1995) in developing the “nuclear winter” theory, and his invention, development and commercialization of miniaturized instruments for air pollution measurements. Prof. Birks has published more than 140 scientific papers, edited 3 books, and holds 13 U.S. patents. He has supervised the research of 39 Ph.D. and 9 M.S. students. After 25 years of service, in 2002 Prof. Birks retired from the University of Colorado and joined 2B Technologies, a company he co-founded with Dr. Mark Bollinger in 1998. At 2B Tech, Dr. Birks continues to work with a team of scientists and engineers to develop a new generation of instrumentation for atmospheric measurements. He also is co-founder and Executive Vice President of InDevR, a Boulder biotech company specializing in the invention and development of new analytical instrumentation for the biomedical sciences. 2B Tech and InDevR are co-located in Boulder, Colorado.
John's awards include Alfred P. Sloan and John Simon Guggenheim Fellowships, the Thomas Jefferson Award of the University of Colorado, the Witherspoon Peace and Justice Award, the Colorado Section Award of the American Chemical Society, the Leo Szilard Award for Physics in the Public Interest of the American Physical Society, the American Chemical Society Award for Creative Advances in Environmental Science and Technology, the Hazel Barnes Prize (highest faculty award of the University of Colorado), the 2019 Haagen-Smit Clean Air Award of the California Air Resources Board, and most recently the 2022 Future of Life Award. Under John's leadership, 2B Technologies received a 2020 Tibbetts Award from the Small Business Administration based on innovative technologies and commercial success for products developed with assistance from the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program.
In 2009, Dr. Birks founded the Global Ozone Project or "GO3 Project" where middle and high school students around the world measure ozone and meteorological parameters outside their schools and upload their data to the GO3 database for display on Google Earth. More than 100 schools, including 35 international schools, have participated in the GO3 Project, uploading and sharing more than 12 million ozone measurements. The GO3 Project, which involved only fixed-based measurements of ozone, evolved into AQTreks, a mobile monitoring program in which students and other citizen scientists make measurements of CO, CO2 and particulate matter (PM1, PM2.5, PM10) along treks of their own design. To date, approximately 8,000 students have participated in AQTreks at more than 150 schools throughout the U.S.
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Dr. Birks began his academic career at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1974 where he established a research group in atmospheric chemistry investigating mechanisms of ozone depletion in the stratosphere. In 1977 Prof. Birks moved his research group to the University of Colorado where he could collaborate more closely with CIRES, NCAR and NOAA scientists. Prof. Birks is best known for quantifying the rates of several chemical reactions key to understanding ozone depletion in the Antarctic “ozone hole”, his seminal work in 1981/82 with Paul Crutzen (Nobel Laureate, 1995) in developing the “nuclear winter” theory, and his invention, development and commercialization of miniaturized instruments for air pollution measurements. Prof. Birks has published more than 140 scientific papers, edited 3 books, and holds 13 U.S. patents. He has supervised the research of 39 Ph.D. and 9 M.S. students. After 25 years of service, in 2002 Prof. Birks retired from the University of Colorado and joined 2B Technologies, a company he co-founded with Dr. Mark Bollinger in 1998. At 2B Tech, Dr. Birks continues to work with a team of scientists and engineers to develop a new generation of instrumentation for atmospheric measurements. He also is co-founder and Executive Vice President of InDevR, a Boulder biotech company specializing in the invention and development of new analytical instrumentation for the biomedical sciences. 2B Tech and InDevR are co-located in Boulder, Colorado.
John's awards include Alfred P. Sloan and John Simon Guggenheim Fellowships, the Thomas Jefferson Award of the University of Colorado, the Witherspoon Peace and Justice Award, the Colorado Section Award of the American Chemical Society, the Leo Szilard Award for Physics in the Public Interest of the American Physical Society, the American Chemical Society Award for Creative Advances in Environmental Science and Technology, the Hazel Barnes Prize (highest faculty award of the University of Colorado), the 2019 Haagen-Smit Clean Air Award of the California Air Resources Board, and most recently the 2022 Future of Life Award. Under John's leadership, 2B Technologies received a 2020 Tibbetts Award from the Small Business Administration based on innovative technologies and commercial success for products developed with assistance from the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program.
In 2009, Dr. Birks founded the Global Ozone Project or "GO3 Project" where middle and high school students around the world measure ozone and meteorological parameters outside their schools and upload their data to the GO3 database for display on Google Earth. More than 100 schools, including 35 international schools, have participated in the GO3 Project, uploading and sharing more than 12 million ozone measurements. The GO3 Project, which involved only fixed-based measurements of ozone, evolved into AQTreks, a mobile monitoring program in which students and other citizen scientists make measurements of CO, CO2 and particulate matter (PM1, PM2.5, PM10) along treks of their own design. To date, approximately 8,000 students have participated in AQTreks at more than 150 schools throughout the U.S.
LinkedIn Profile
ResearchGate Profile
Publications
CV