Past Events

Parsons Laboratory Seminar Series: Novel approaches for the identification of toxic organic chemicals in complex mixtures

Please join us for the Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory Seminar Series with speaker Carsten Prasse from John Hopkins University, who will discuss “Chemical Exposures: Novel approaches for the identification of toxic organic chemicals in complex mixtures"

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: Utilizing Satellite Communication Signals for Earth Remote Sensing

Please join us for the Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory Seminar Series with speaker James Garrison from Purdue University, who will discuss “Signals of Opportunity P-band Investigation (SNOOPI): Utilizing Satellite Communication"

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

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.

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

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. 

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

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: 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

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.