[1] In 2017, Russell was appointed a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union for "pioneering contributions to the fundamental science of organic aerosols through innovative theory, instrumentation, measurements, and modeling".
[6] Russell's research is on how particles in the atmosphere effect climate, particularly aerosols from pollution sources such as automobiles.
While Russell was at Princeton she developed the use of remote-controlled aircraft to collect atmospheric data.
[15][16] Within the United States, Russell has tracked aerosol particles from Las Vegas, Nevada into California.
Robert Gordon Sproul and examining the resulting production of NOx compounds, particulate material,[19] and hydroxy radicals.