The library temporarily has an official EPA air quality sensor, thanks to the work of senior Sumbul Kiroglu, who has been focused on the issue of indoor air quality for more than a year.

A Health Sciences major, Kiroglu began researching the impact that indoor air quality has on people’s health in January of 2025. Her investigation resulted in a presentation at last May’s LEAD conference on campus and eventually an application to the EPA’s Region 3 sensor loan program.

The sensor was installed on February 19 and will collect data until Kiroglu returns it to the EPA on April 30. Shortly afterwards, she will file her data with the federal agency. She is especially interested in how the air quality during spring break compares to the findings recorded when the library is in full use.

“I believe that we cannot improve our health without improving environmental conditions,” she explains. “We normally learn about air quality from lectures and texts. The sensor is a great way to explore air quality first-hand.”

Via a flyer in Bachmann in mid-March, Kiroglu plans to send students on a sensor hunt. Next to the sensor, they will find a QR code that allows them to see the air quality results in real time.

Next steps for the native of Türkiye (Americans know it as Turkey) include a national conference and an educational campus event.

She will travel to the 2026 Society of Toxicology annual meeting in San Diego to present “The Importance of Monitoring Indoor Air Quality” in the group’s Epidemiology and Public Health Poster Session on March 24.

When she returns, she plans to participate with three other students in a Public Health Bingo event from 1-2 p.m. on March 26 in the library classroom.

Kiroglu started her studies in Health Sciences in 2023 after receiving a full-tuition transfer scholarship to Neumann. She will graduate in May.