This four-part series on “forever chemicals” features the work of Gary Lamberti (BIOS), Graham Peaslee (PHY), Kyle Doudrick (CEEES), Daniele Miranda (BIOS) and Michael Pfrender (BIOS). Learn how PFAS research in their labs are helping to identify environmental impacts, develop new ways to measure and manage contaminated water supplies, and explore new methods of treatment. Read more

David Richter (CEEES) is the lead investigator on a $9-million Office of Naval Research Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative grant that brings together experts in atmospheric science, oceanography, and physics-informed modeling to improve hurricane intensity forecasts. Read more

Ellis Adams' (Keough) study in Water International examined ways island communities can mobilize institutions and resources for climate-resilient water security. He found that establishing a strong community-based governance and collective action strategy in rural and isolated communities is critical for water security. Read more

Ming Hu (ARCH) developed a new tool to assess embodied carbon in over one million buildings in Chicago. Hu's research, published in Carbon Management, identifies 157 different architectural archetypes in the city and provides the first ever visual analysis tool to evaluate embodied carbon at a granular level. Read more

Congratulations to Stefano Castruccio (AMCS), part of a 12-member team across three continents who won the ACM Gordon Bell Prize for Climate Modelling, the highest honor recognizing outstanding achievement in high-performance computing applications. Read more

Paola Crippa (CEEES), with co-authors Drew Marcantonio (Keough) and Danielle Wood (ND-ECI), recently published a study exploring the Clean Air Act in Environmental Management. Their study focuses particularly on Section 126, a measure by which downwind states can take action and petition the EPA to directly regulate sources of interstate air pollution. Read more

A study by Sisi Meng (Keough) reveals that effective environmental governance can significantly reduce human displacement caused by weather-related disasters. Published in Nature's Communications Earth & Environment, Meng measured environmental governance using ND-GAIN Country Index. Read more

Developed by an interdisciplinary team at ND-ECI, ND-GAIN's Global Urban Climate Assessment (GUCA) pilot is a new decision-support tool that provides a framework for measuring global urban climate vulnerability and resilience. In its pilot phase, GUCA features 12 cities using a combination of remote sensing and secondary data to identify a suite of globally comparable metrics across the urban geographies. Read more

Drew Marcantonio's (Keough) study in Business Horizons emphasizes the dual role of business as both a leading cause of pollution and a vital player in its mitigation. His research highlights the importance of promoting access to a safe, clean and healthy environment as a human right, as well as the need for business to help protect that right. Read more

A study published in Nature by Jason Rohr (BIOS) demonstrates biodiversity loss may be a main driver of infectious diseases across the world, followed by introduced species, climate change, and chemical pollution. Rohr and collaborators amassed and analyzed a dataset of 3,000 observations gleaned from scientific literature. Read more

Tracy Kijewski-Correa (Keough) was part of a team that authored a National Academies report on compounding disasters in Gulf Coast communities. In addition, she presented at a recent National Academies Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action webinar on housing and disasters. Watch the conversation

We are excited to introduce ND-ECI's new "Scholar Spotlight" series, which highlights the impactful work of our community on ND-ECI’s social media platforms. 

Our first spotlight is Debra Javeline (Pol Sci), who divides her time between the study of Russia and the study of global environmental problems, especially climate change. Her current book project is Unadapted: A Portrait of Unchanged Humans on a Changed Planet. Javeline recently wrote, “The Political Climate” in Notre Dame Magazine, emphasizing the need for transformative adaptation strategies as climate impacts accelerate and the political landscape changes. 

If you or someone in your lab is interested in being featured," please let us know. We’d love to shine a light on your work and share it with the broader ND-ECI community!

Meet our Postdoctoral Fellows who recently joined ND-ECI:

Advisor: Cristian Koepfli (BIOS)

The Emerging Threat of Vector-Borne Diseases in the East African Highlands in the Light of Climate Change

Advisor: Paola Crippa (CEEES)

Multiscale WRF Modeling of Meso-to-Micro-Scale Flows in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer

Advisor: Ellis Adams (Keough)

Climate Variability, Contested Land Politics, and Food and Water Security in Central Malawi 

Advisor: Kyle Doudrick (CEEES)

Innovative Approaches to Environmental Remediation: Catalytic Membranes and Microplastic Separation Technologies

Congratulations! ND-ECI postdoc, Andrew Grace (CEEES) is the recipient a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Fellowship. The fellowship provides two years of funding for Andrew to continue his research with faculty mentor, David Richter.

"I feel very honored and thankful to be awarded the NSERC PDF. I consider this to be a pivotal time in my career, and this award will support me intellectually as I foster new and exciting collaborations and opportunities."

We are excited to add a crucial new capability to ND-LEEF: The Linked Experimental Temperature System (LEEF-LETS). This newly installed system allows streams to be heated 5°c above control streams to study the impacts of climate change. Read more

ND-LEEF is currently accepting grant proposals for the 2025 field season. We welcome proposals for both aquatic and terrestrial research from graduate students and postdocs that effectively and creatively use the facilities at ND-LEEF to test novel ideas. View RFP

Thank you to everyone who joined us for ND-LEEF's annual Science Sunday. Over 150 community members came out to explore ND-LEEF and discover the range of environmental research happening at Notre Dame. A special thanks to all the presenters who shared their excitement and knowledge!

Congratulations to ND-ECI affiliated faculty, who received new research awards since our last newsletter totaling ~$3.6M. Below are some highlights: 

The ND-ECI Community has been very productive with nearly 100 publications since our last newsletter. Below are some highlights, please click here to view the full list. 

At the Notre Dame Environmental Change Initiative, over 60 faculty across several disciplines are pursuing research solutions for key environmental challenges of our time.

ND-ECI focuses on multidisciplinary research that can translate into solutions to help make the world a better place for humans and the environment upon which people depend.

We call it “Science Serving Society.”

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