Urban Systems Lab

Now Hiring: Postdoctoral Associate in Machine Learning

Urban Systems Lab (NYU) is seeking a Postdoc to advance model development and cloud deployment for ClimateIQ, our AI climate risk assessment product.

In-person at NYU Washington Square (NYC).
PhD required. Apply: buff.ly/5BXVsVV

The NATURA Network is pleased to share the Asia Report as part of the Global Roadmap for Urban Nature-based Solutions, now live on our website.

Read the report: buff.ly/CU8tw68
#NATURANetwork #NatureBasedSolutions #Urban #Resilience #Asia #NBSRoadmap

Space to Grow: The Vital Importance of Biodiversity in Concrete Jungles Is it possible to balance the needs of people with nature in our “concrete jungles”?  That is the question under scrutiny in this episode of ‘Nature Insight’. As the global population becomes ever…

New episode of IPBES Nature Insight 🎧

USL’s Loan Diep joins the conversation on why urban biodiversity is essential as cities rapidly expand, especially in the Global South.

Episode: Space to Grow: The Vital Importance of Biodiversity in Concrete Jungles
Listen here: buff.ly/wrP8Sed

@ipbes.net

Thank you to everyone who joined us at #AGU in New Orleans.
Our team shared work on urban flood resilience, ClimateIQ, AI and physics-based risk modeling, and urban climate data.

#AGU24 #UrbanResilience #ClimateScience

Final day of COP30 in Brazil 🌎
USL’s Loan Diep is sending updates from the field.

The NATURA Global Roadmap for Urban Nature-based Solutions is now out 🌿
Executive summary and regional reports: buff.ly/0oxqs3D

More on the way.
#nbsroadmap

‘We are forgotten here’: As NYC builds seawalls, this Queens community feels left behind. A decade after city officials promised to cut flood risks in the Edgemere neighborhood, critics say it remains just as vulnerable.

Great to see Veronica Olivotto (USL / The New School) featured in a Floodlight/Guardian piece about Edgemere, Queens — a community still waiting for promised #flood protections. 

Watch the linked video to hear residents’ stories: buff.ly/YpcGf1T
#NYC

🌿 TODAY at #COP30:
Launching the NATURA Global Roadmap for Urban NbS—the FIRST global assessment of urban nature-based solutions
✨ 1000+ publications
✨ 150+ case studies worldwide
✨ 80+ expert contributors
✨ 7 regional teams
🎥 New video live now
📄 Get the reports at nbsroadmap.org
#NBSRoadmap

Blue Sky:
🌿 TOMORROW at #COP30!
USL's Timon McPhearson & Loan Diep launch the NATURA Global Roadmap for Urban NbS
📅 Nov 20 | 9-10:30 AM BRT
📍 Planetary Science Pavilion (PV-B47)
"Taking Stock, Rooting Change" 🌍
#NatureBasedSolutions #Resilience

Week 2 of #COP30! 🌍
This morning: USL's Timon McPhearson & Maria Fernanda Campos Lemos (PIC-Rio Director, UCCRN-LA) launch the UCCRN Scientific Assessment Reports (ARC3.3 series)
What does this mean for urban adaptation & climate justice?
Watch: buff.ly/KZsFe0t
#ClimateJustice #UrbanResilience

Our team made it to COP30! 🌿✈️🇧🇷
NYU & USL's Timon McPhearson, Loan Diep & Ivonne Serna are in Belém for something special…
Join us Thursday, Nov 20 at 9am for the GLOBAL LAUNCH of the Urban NbS Roadmap! 🌍
📍 Planetary Science Pavilion, Blue Zone
🌱 Taking Stock, Rooting Change
#COP30 #NBS

What Mamdani's Win Means for Climate Action Affordability and climate action, can go hand in hand, argues Mamdani.

Urban Systems Lab Director Timon McPhearson is featured in TIME’s article about NYC’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, and the city’s evolving climate priorities.
Read here: buff.ly/ctLfg5X%EF%B...
#NYC #Mamdani #climate

USL's Timon McPhearson and Loan Diep are headed to COP30. In advance of this critical event, they are excited to announce the launch of "Resilience Science Must-Knows": Nine things every decision-maker should now about resilience.

Learn more : buff.ly/33ZHm1v

USL’s @Timonm will join colleagues from Google DeepMind, the Beijer Institute, and Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research for the launch of “AI for a planet under pressure”. Digital launch in Brussels on November 5, 2025.

Register online here: buff.ly/O5labJU

Join USL's Timon McPhearson and Loan Diep at COP30 in Belém, Brazil where they will launch the Global Roadmap for Urban #NaturebasedSolutions.

The Roadmap is a landmark effort bringing together 80 experts from across the world to explore NbS across 7 regions. Learn more: nbsroadmap.org

At #IUCN2025 in Abu Dhabi, the NATURA network will pre-launch the Global Roadmap for Urban Nature-based Solutions — a landmark global assessment charting a path to scale NbS for more resilient, equitable, and sustainable cities.

🔗 Learn more: buff.ly/Bd1qoHh
#NbS #UrbanResilience #NatureInCities

Upcoming Event!
ClimateIQ: Unlocking Urban Climate Intelligence for Resilience

📅 Tuesday, Sept 23 | ⏰ 11AM ET

Join us during NYC Climate Week for a look at ClimateIQ, an AI climate risk tool.

🎤 Speakers from C40 Cities, ICLEI Africa, Transitions Research. 🔗 RSVP: buff.ly/4Uvm8lj

“Storms are holding more water and moving slower and dropping all the rain at once.”
“We need to get into the state of preparedness and action.”

USL's Timon McPhearson featured in @NYTimes article exploring the impacts of flooding across the US this summer: buff.ly/czipXOo

#Flood #ClimateChange

📰 Just out in @pnas.org special issue: @nfrantzeskaki.bsky.social , Katinka Wijsman, Nadja Kabisch, and @timonm.bsky.social explore how #NatureBasedSolutions can support just urban transformations.

🔗 buff.ly/1eEhcBx
#NbS #UrbanJustice #UrbanSustainability #PNAS #JustTransitions

📰 Just published in @pnas.org special issue: Scholars Melissa K. Nelson & Graeme Reed explore how Indigenous ways of knowing align with and challenge #NatureBasedSolutions frameworks.

🔗 Read: buff.ly/glYDsmF
#IndigenousKnowledge #ClimateJustice #PNAS #DecolonizeNbS

📰 Just published in @pnas.org special issue: @loandhi.bsky.social + @timonm.bsky.social offer 4 levers for transformative urban adaptation through #NatureBasedSolutions.

Read: buff.ly/FXggzzN
#NbS #PNAS #ClimateResilience

📰 Just out in @pnas.org special issue: @timonm.bsky.social + 23 authors synthesize 60+ reviews & global regional knowledge on urban #NatureBasedSolutions.

🔗 Read more: buff.ly/jGfYSqO
#UrbanSustainability #NbS #PNAS

📰 Just out in @pnas.org special issue: Elizabeth M. Cook, Yeowon Kim, Nancy B. Grimm, and Weiqi Zhou introduce how #NatureBasedSolutions can make cities more resilient.
🔗 buff.ly/KJPOGHX
#NbS #UrbanSustainability #Equity #ClimateResilience #GreenCities

🌿 New from PNAS — Nature-Based Solutions for Urban Sustainability, a global special feature co-edited by Timon McPhearson (NYU) and Nancy Grimm (ASU/NAS), spotlights how urban NbS can address climate, health & equity challenges.

Read here 👉 buff.ly/K8aU853
#NBS #UrbanResilience #NATURA

📖 Read more: buff.ly/SmOPJvR

USL's Timon McPhearson featured in @Politico speaking on the urgent need for investment in early warning systems and climate resilience. #climate #texasfloods #flooding @NYU.edu

@USL_NYC will be @agu.org Annual Meeting #AGU25 in New Orleans from Dec 15–19, 2025!

✅ Submit your abstract to our session: IN009 – Advancing Urban Risk Modeling: From Physics Foundations to AI Innovations
🔗 Link: buff.ly/x4qxS4b
⏱️ Abstract deadline: July 30, 2025 23:59 EDT/03:59 UTC

#AI

eXtended Reality for promoting people-nature relationships in cities: a scoping review - npj Urban Sustainability npj Urban Sustainability - eXtended Reality for promoting people-nature relationships in cities: a scoping review

🌿 New article alert!
Former USL Visiting Scholar Shahryar Sarabi publishes a scoping review on XR + urban nature as part of his NATURA Early Career Fellowship. 🧠🌳

During my time with @uslnyc.bsky.social, I had the opportunity to review @laurajmartin.bsky.social’s remarkable book Wild by Design for @publicseminar.bsky.social You can read the full review below 👇

publicseminar.org/2025/05/wild...

CELEBRATING BRILLIANT MINDS! 🎓
Congrats to Anna, Arshya, Jennifer, Eric, Veronica & Filipa on their incredible achievements! From designing climate resilience tools to pioneering environmental justice frameworks, their research at the Urban Systems Lab is shaping more equitable and resilient cities.

🌍 Why do climate experts see the same problem so differently? Groundbreaking study by Pablo Herreros-Cantis et al. maps mental models of 20 NYC stakeholders, revealing critical knowledge silos in urban adaptation. The key? More inclusive co-production! Read the paper: bit.ly/mental-sets #Resilience