Interns contributed to aerosol modeling research to better understand airborne virus DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory When Cathrine Hamilton and Alison Robey, fall interns at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, first signed on to collaborate with their mentor Laura Fierce, an associate scientist in the Environmental and Climate Sciences Department, they didn't imagine they would be contributing to widespread research tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of collaborating on climate models, the interns supported the development of simulations in order to study the probability of infection by tiny virus particles traveling in the air. The research, which is among several COVID-19-focused efforts at Brookhaven Lab, aims to connect the tools of mathematical modeling with aerosol expertise and the expanding body of coronavirus literature. The goal is to provide more accurate insights on the effects of particle size, evolution, and behavior on the chances of infection, which could lead to the design of more effective airborne virus protections.