Past Events

Master’s Thesis Writing Workshop

Led by Jared Berezin, Comm Lab Manager, this workshop will present approaches for writing and organizing each section of your master's thesis. Attendees will also analyze examples from prior theses, and participate in activities to begin constructing a first draft. This event is in-person in 1-236.

Demystifying the CEE General Exam Part 2

Led by Comm Fellow and PhD candidate Michelle Zhang, this Comm Lab workshop will provide information and guidance on the entire General Exam Part 2 process. This event is in-person in 48-216A.

Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory Seminar Series: A multi-sensor data assimilation approach to terrestrial carbon cycle monitoring, inventories, markets and projections

Please join us for the Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory Seminar Series with Professor Michael Dietze from Boston University. This seminar is in person at 15 Vassar Street, 48-316. Abstract: Improving our ability to understand and predict the dynamics of the terrestrial carbon cycle remains a pressing challenge despite a rapidly growing volume and diversity of Earth Observation data. State data assimilation represents a path forward via an iterative cycle of making process-based forecasts and then statistically reconciling these forecasts against numerous ground-based and remotely-sensed data constraints into a “reanalysis” data product that provides full spatiotemporal carbon budgets with robust uncertainty accounting. Here we report on an >100x expansion of the PEcAn+SIPNET reanalysis from 500 sites CONUS, 25 ensemble members, and 2 data constraints to a ~1km product across North America with 100 ensemble members and 9 data constraints: GEDI and Landtrendr AGB, MODIS LAI, SoilGrids Soil C, SMAP soil moisture, USFS Forest Inventory biomass, biomass increment, and FLUXNET NEE and LE. Synergistically, we use similar ML models both emulate the data assimilation system and to analyze and bias-correct downscaled C and water fluxes. This product preserves spatial, temporal, and across-variable covariances, and we demonstrate the impacts of these covariances on uncertainty accounting in GHG inventories, Scope 3 reporting, and the voluntary C markets. In addition, we review a wide range of ongoing validation activities, comparing the outputs of the reanalysis against withheld data from: ICESat2 lidar; USFS BigMap biomass; NEON soil C, soil respiration, and fine roots; and the ILAMB benchmark suite. Finally, if time permits, we touch on emulator-based recalibration efforts, the Ecological Forecasting Initiative (EFI), and EFI’s NEON forecasting challenge.

C.C. Mei Distinguished Speaker Series: Gabriel Katul

Join us for the C.C. Mei Distinguished Speaker Series featuring Professor Gabriel Katul, who will present “Revisiting Peak Water, Peak Grain, and Analogies to Peak Oil Using Boom–Bust Dynamics in Groundwater-Sourced Grain Production for the U.S. High Plains.” The seminar is in-person in Room 1-190.

Science Saturday at the Boston Public Library

Explore science with the MIT Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering! We'll tackle different science questions each month with hands-on learning and demonstrations. Each month, we'll introduce a new topic, talk about your questions, and play some games to explore more! Ages 6-8.

Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory Seminar Series: TBD

Please join us for the Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory Seminar Series. This seminar is in person at 15 Vassar Street, 48-316.

Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory Seminar Series: TBD

Please join us for the Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory Seminar Series. This seminar is in person at 15 Vassar Street, 48-316.

Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory Seminar Series: Sensors in cities – how variable is urban air quality, and how can sensor networks support different types of urban decision making?

Please join us for the Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory Seminar Series with Dr. Amy Mueller, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Marine and Environmental Sciences at Northeastern University. This seminar is in person at 15 Vassar Street, 48-316.

Abstract:

The health implications, and associated disparities, of air pollution in urban environments - as well as the shortcomings in using regulatory monitoring networks to quantify these - are both well recognized. The iSUPER (Intelligent Solutions to Urban Pollution for Equity and Resilience) project is partnered with two Boston-area communities (Brookline and Chelsea, Massachusetts) to pilot very high density air quality sensor networks, understand connections between infrastructure operations/changes and air quality, and develop tools that support communities in designing, deploying, and leveraging air sensor networks as part of the portfolio of urban decision making support. The network of 150+ multi-parameter air quality sensors was co-designed to capture both spatial heterogeneity (hotspots in space and time) as well as provide data to generate insight relative to specific collaborator questions, such as the relationship between air quality and greenspaces, transportation interventions such as addition of bicycle and bus lanes, impact of freight traffic, etc. At a moment where many municipalities are considering the potential benefits of deploying air quality sensor networks, this talk will provide a “behind-the-scenes” look at the realities of sensor network deployments from a practical, data quality, and insight generation point of view, connecting this to spatial and social disparities, urban renovation, and the cutting-edge science and data science needed to support these insights.

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Henry L. Pierce Laboratory Seminar: Chemomechanics At Interfaces: New Insights Into Environment-Driven Deformation And Degradation Of Materials And Geostructures 

Please join us on Wednesday, November 19, 2025 for the Pierce Seminar at 4 pm in Room 1-131 with Prof. Yida Zhang from University of Colorado Boulder.

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CEE Admissions Info Session

Learn to solve the toughest global scale problems facing our planet, society, and infrastructure with a graduate degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Join us for our graduate admissions webinar to learn more about the degree programs offered in CEE.