Organic aerosol particles within the boundary layer of the atmosphere can affect radiative forcing of the climate. A large uncertainty exists in the effects of this forcing since a large fraction of the composition of organic particles has yet to be determined. Submicron atmospheric particles were collected onto stretched Teflon filters downstream from a PM 1.0 Sharp Cut cyclone during the New England Air Quality Study- Intercontinental Transport and Chemical Transformation (NEAQS-ITCT) 2004 project, part of the larger International Consortium for Atmospheric Research on Transport and Transformation (ICARTT). The purpose of NEAQS-ITCT is to study intercontinental transport, chemical transformation, and removal of North American anthropogenic pollution (aerosols and ozone precursors), as it crosses the North Atlantic. Measurements were taken at Chebogue Point, Nova Scotia, Canada, located across the North Atlantic making it an ideal location to study aerosol composition and chemical evolution after its transport over the ocean. After sample collection, filters were analyzed using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) transmission spectroscopy to identify functional groups. These results were compared with samples collected from a ground site on Appledore Island, New Hampshire (with ICARTT) in order to determine differences in aerosols composition before and after transport over the North Atlantic Ocean. Results were also compared to samples collected on the research vessel Ron Brown, who had coordinated some sampling times with those at Chebogue Point, in order to make comparisons of aerosol composition on land and over the ocean.