Events

Parsons Laboratory Seminar Series: Better Controllers for Wind Farms Using Wake Steering

Please join us for the Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory Seminar Series with speaker Hannah Johlas, postdoctoral at MIT, who will discuss “Better Controllers for Wind Farms Using Wake Steering ”.

The seminar is in-person at 15 Vassar Street, 48-316

For more information or how to attend this seminar virtually, please contact lumidi@mit.edu

Securing the Future of Agriculture

This symposium — cosponsored by the MIT Whitehead Institute and Inari — covers how some of the tools, developed here in Cambridge, are being used to advance crop improvement. Assistant Professor David Des Marais is among the line up of speakers. View agenda and register in the link below.

Future Leaders in CEE: Why Do Particles Make People Sick?

It is well established that air pollution is associated with increased morbidity and mortality, mostly due to cerebrovascular and ischemic cardiovascular diseases. Airborne particulate matter (PM) with diameters less than 2.5 microns (PM2.5 ) is most strongly linked to adverse health outcomes from air pollution. Since air pollution exposure is thought to be responsible for millions of deaths per year, there is an urgent need to understand PM toxicity. Despite decades of research, the PM components and biological mechanisms that contribute to PM toxicity are poorly understood. The goal of this talk is to introduce the audience to multidisciplinary approaches and challenges associated with PM toxicology research.

About the speaker:

Dr. David Gonzalez is an atmospheric chemist and aerosol scientist with postdoctoral training in environmental cardiology and toxicology. He is broadly interested in understanding the relationship between airborne particulate matter (PM) chemistry and mechanisms underlying health effects from PM exposure. He was born in Mexico, grew up in Texas, and moved to Southern California where he attended Moorpark Community College. He then transferred to UCLA and received a BS in Chemistry (2012) and an MS/PhD in Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (2019). His PhD work with Dr. Suzanne Paulson (UCLA) studied the chemistry of reactive oxygen species generated by biomass burning aerosols in lung fluid. Collaborative doctoral work with Dr. Andrew Ghio, a veteran pulmonologist at the EPA, investigated mechanisms of pulmonary toxicity from PM exposure. Dr. Gonzalez currently conducts postdoctoral research in the Environmental Cardiology & Vascular Biology Lab led by renowned physician-scientist, Dr. Jesus Araujo, at the UCLA School of Medicine. His postdoctoral work focuses on dissecting mechanisms by which PM promotes plaque buildup in the arteries (atherosclerosis) and ischemic cardiovascular diseases. Dr. Gonzalez has been supported by the Cota-Robles Fellowship, Switzer Environmental Fellowship, NIEHS Postdoctoral Diversity Supplement and NIEHS Molecular Toxicology Postdoctoral Training Grant at UCLA. Additionally, Dr. Gonzalez is a leader and committed advocate for enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in academia. At UCLA, he served as Co-President of the Organization for Cultural Diversity in Science (OCDS) and was inducted into the Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society in 2019.

MIT Methane Workshop: Restoring Atmospheric Methane Levels

Reducing atmospheric methane levels provides an immediate reduction in climate warming rates. We invite you to define urgent needs in technology, social science, and policy that will facilitate a rapid reduction of atmospheric methane levels via participation in the MIT Methane Workshop: Restoring Atmospheric Methane Levels

Organized by the MIT Methane Network, this workshop will be held virtually and is an important step in shaping the actionable outcomes to realize the Global Methane Pledge signed by 70% of the world’s economies at COP26

Session 1: Technology Needs. April 7, 1-5pm ET and April 8, 1-5pm ET
Session 2: Social Science & Policy Needs. May 5, 1-5pm ET and May 6, 1-5pm ET

The output of the workshop is intended to inform global research strategies and methane action networks.
Join us to make a difference in global warming rates that can be measured within our lifetime.

Parsons Laboratory Seminar Series: What drives coupling between the terrestrial water and carbon cycles?

Please join us for the Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory Seminar Series with speaker Daniel Gianotti who will discuss “What drives coupling between the terrestrial water and carbon cycles ”.

The seminar is in-person at 15 Vassar Street, 48-316

For more information or how to attend this seminar virtually, please contact lumidi@mit.edu

Parsons Laboratory Seminar Series: Climate and Tea

Please join us for the Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory Seminar Series with speaker Colin Orians of Tufts University who will discuss “Climate and Tea: The Unintended Benefits of Herbivory”. Host: Des Marais Group

The seminar is in-person at 15 Vassar Street, 48-316

For more information or how to attend this seminar virtually, please contact lumidi@mit.edu

Parsons Laboratory Seminar Series: Metabolic niches of marine copiotrophs

Please join us for the Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory Seminar Series with speaker Matti Gralka of MIT who will discuss “Metabolic niches of marine copiotrophs explained by the structure of central metabolism”. Host: Des Marais Group

The seminar is in-person at 15 Vassar Street, 48-316

For more information or how to attend this seminar virtually, please contact lumidi@mit.edu

Parsons Laboratory Seminar Series: Forest fires in the tropics

Please join us for the Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory Seminar Series with speaker Clare Balboni of MIT who will discuss “The origins and control of the forest fires in the tropics”. Host: Des Marais Group

The seminar is in-person at 15 Vassar Street, 48-316

For more information or how to attend this seminar virtually, please contact lumidi@mit.edu

Parsons Laboratory Seminar Series: Picophytoplankton population dynamics

Please join us for the Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory Seminar Series with speaker Bethany Fowler of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution who will discuss “Picophytoplankton population dynamics from fixed and underway observations of cell traits”. Faculty Host: Penny Chisholm

The seminar is in-person at 15 Vassar Street, 48-316

For more information or how to attend this seminar virtually, please contact lumidi@mit.edu

Parsons Laboratory Seminar Series: Cellular resolution spatial ecology of predation within bacterial biofilms

Please join us for the Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory Seminar Series with speaker Carey Nadell of Dartmouth University who will discuss “Cellular resolution spatial ecology of predation within bacterial biofilms”. Host: Matti Gralka, Cordero Group

The seminar is in-person at 15 Vassar Street, 48-316

For more information or how to attend this seminar virtually, please contact lumidi@mit.edu

Parsons Laboratory Seminar Series: Urban heat mitigation: is it a simple surface energy balance problem?

As the climate warms and as the urban population continues to increase, heat becomes one of the most pressing environmental health issues in cities. Various urban heat mitigation strategies such as white and green roofs have been proposed. From the physical science perspective, key questions to address include how effective these strategies are and where/when they are mostly effective. In this talk, Dan Li, assistant professor at Boston University, will use two examples to demonstrate that the surface energy balance provides a strong constraint on the cooling effects of urban heat mitigation strategies. A simple surface energy balance model’s results agree well with the simulated results from a state-of-the-art climate model. In both examples, it is found that the convective heat transfer efficiency and its parameterization play an important role in affecting the estimated/ simulated effectiveness of urban heat mitigation strategies. I will conclude the talk by discussing how to improve the parameterization of convective heat transfer in complex urban environments.

CEE Annual Research Day: Climate Solutions and Integration of Sustainability at Scale

Join us for our annual research event that includes research presentations and talks by members of the CEE community on the following research themes: 1. Materials and structures; 2. Data-informed decisions; 3. Earth system science; 4.Environmental physics for mitigation and adaptation

The event will also include a poster session reception. Download the Program Agenda to learn more.

MIT and Building the Quabbin Reservoir: 1920-1946

Hosted by the MIT Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Professor Andrew Whittle, this talk will focus on MIT’s influence on the history, design and construction of the Quabbin Reservoir project of the 1920s and 1930s, which destroyed and flooded four towns in western Massachusetts. The speaker will show contemporaneous photos taken by Quabbin engineers and a rare Commonwealth-produced Technicolor silent film, and relate the Quabbin conflict to contemporary climate change, managed retreat, and water rights. You can learn more about this topic, in the MIT Technology Review article, "Our water infrastructure needs to change."

About the speaker:

Elisabeth C. Rosenberg is the author of Before the Flood: Destruction, Community, and Survival in the Drowned Towns of the Quabbin (Pegasus Books/Simon & Schuster, 2021). She is a writer and editor who focuses on the interplay between individuals, demographic groups, and disruptive technology and has contributed to the Boston Globe, Technology Review, Boston Magazine, Fast Company, Harvard University Press, and the Electronic Privacy Information Center. She divides her time between Washington, DC, and Amherst, MA. 

ONE-MA3 Info Session

Professor Admir Masic will be leading the annual ONE-MA3 summer program in which MIT undergraduates conduct two weeks of fieldwork in Italy as a prerequisite for the Fall 2022 MIT course, 1.057 Heritage Science and Technology. The program involves real-world analysis of ancient infrastructures and materials and focuses on teaching ways to improve sustainability of the future through the study of ancient successes. CEE will be hosting an informational session about the program. Please RSVP at the link below and if you are interested in attending the session via Zoom, please email cee-apo@mit.edu

More information about how to apply to the program can be found at: https://cee.mit.edu/one-ma3/

CEE Random Act of Kindness Events

MIT's annual Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) Week is scheduled for March 7-11, 2022 and CEE will be holding week-long #MITRAK events for the CEE Community.

Save the date on your calendar and come join us for:

3/7-3/11: POP into CEE | 11 am - 5pm
Fresh, hot popcorn with your choice of seasoning available all week in 1-290

3/7: Meditation with Amy | 2:30-3pm
Join Amy for a guided meditation in 48-308

3/8: Make Your Own Terrarium | 3pm
Drop in and create your own air plant terrarium or succulent pot in 1-143 and Parsons Kitchen

3/9: Waffles and Wuv with Winston | 11 am
Enjoy a build your own waffle bar and pet a pug in 1-143

3/10: Knitting Circle with Kiley and Hajin | 3-4pm
Bring your current project and unwind. Cookies will be served in 1-143

3/11: Waffles and Wuv | 11 am
Enjoy a build your own waffle bar in Parsons Kitchen

Gratitude cards: Card making supplies will be available all week in 1-143 and the Parson's kitchen. Send someone a card and make their day! Cards will be delivered on Friday 3/11.

Contact the Academic Programs Office with any questions: cee-apo@mit.edu