MIT CEE

CEE graduate students receive MIT Fellowships for 2025-2026 academic year - cee.mit.edu The following students were recognized in the 2025-2026 academic year: Riccardo Fiorista received the Hugh Hampton Young Fellowship. Riccardo’s research addresses challenges in public transportation…

We’re proud to celebrate six CEE graduate students recognized with prestigious fellowships supporting research that advances sustainability and innovation across the built and natural environment.🎉 cee.mit.edu/cee-graduate...

CEE Alumna Rachel Schaefer receives 2024 Lorenz G. Straub Award - cee.mit.edu Rachel Schaefer, PhD ’24 was selected as the winner of the 2024 Lorenz G. Straub Award for her dissertation entitled, “Exploring connections between seagrass ecosystem services and meadow…

Congrats to CEE alumna Rachel Schaefer on receiving the 2024 Lorenz G. Straub Award for her thesis exploring a range of physical scales to describe how seagrass provides coastal protection and facilitates blue carbon. cee.mit.edu/cee-alumna-r...

Study examines industry influence and efficacy of carbon capture, use, and storage (CCUS) deployment - cee.mit.edu A study published in Environmental Science & Policy by Professor Charles Harvey and climate scientist, Lindsey Gulden reviews federal lobbying disclosures from 2005 to 2024 to understand why carbon…

Who’s shaping U.S. carbon capture policy? A new study from Prof. Charles Harvey finds fossil fuel companies dominate lobbying around carbon capture—spending nearly $1B over 20 years—helping steer climate policy toward solutions that extend fossil fuel use. cee.mit.edu/study-examin...

Jameel Observatory-CREWSnet begins first Adaptation Fortress | Community Jameel The Adaptation Fortress will transform a cyclone shelter and provide protection from heatwaves in Bangladesh for the first time.

The Jameel Observatory–CREWSnet, an initiative led by Prof. Elfatih Eltahir, has begun construction on the first Adaptation Fortress in Bangladesh—protecting communities from both heatwaves and cyclones. #ClimateAdaptation #ClimateResilience #ExtremeHeat www.communityjameel.org/news/jameel-...

Decoding the Arctic to predict winter weather MIT research scientist Judah Cohen is using machine learning and Arctic climate indicators to improve subseasonal weather forecasting. His model won first place in the 2025 AI WeatherQuest…

With the help of AI, MIT Research Scientist Judah Cohen is reshaping subseasonal forecasting, with the goal of extending the lead time for predicting impactful weather. news.mit.edu/2026/decodin...

New research led by grad student Kristen Riedinger with the Plata Lab and MIT Superfund Research Program detects low-level N-nitrosamines in drinking water and explores links to other water quality indicators. doi.org/10.1039/D5EW...

From flooded streets to MIT: Glen de Vera’s lifelong quest to protect global water health - cee.mit.edu In a small town in the Philippines, environmental issues weren’t newspaper headlines, but daily realities for Research Scientist, Glen de Vera. Floodwaters routinely filled the streets. Rivers ran…

Research Scientist Glen de Vera grew up surrounded by unsafe water and pollution. Now at MIT, he studies water treatment, tackles pollutants, mentors students, and advances technologies that protect public health. cee.mit.edu/from-flooded...

MIT Professor César Terrer named to Clarivate’s 2025 Highly Cited Researchers List - cee.mit.edu César Terrer, TianFu Group Career Development Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, has been named to the 2025 Highly Cited Researchers list from Clarivate. The annual list identifies rese...

Congrats to Prof. César Terrer on being named to Clarivate’s 2025 Highly Cited Researchers list! 🎉 The annual list recognizes researchers whose publications rank in the top 1% by citations in their field. cee.mit.edu/mit-professo...

Pompeii offers insights into ancient Roman building technology MIT researchers analyzed an ancient Pompeii construction site to determine how the ancient Romans produced concrete that endured for thousands of years.

A team of researchers led by Prof. Admir Masic analyzed a recently discovered ancient construction site to shed new light on a material that has endured for thousands of years. #concrete #infrastructure #sustainability news.mit.edu/2025/pompeii...

New control system teaches soft robots the art of staying safe System developed by researchers at MIT CSAIL and LIDS uses rigorous mathematics to ensure robots flex, adapt, and interact with people and objects in a safe and precise way. It helps robots remain fle...

A team of researchers including @gioele-zardini.bsky.social have developed a mathematically grounded system that lets soft robots deform, adapt, and interact with people and objects, without violating safety limits. news.mit.edu/2025/new-con...

Dairy Barn Methane Levels and Feasibility of Thermal Catalytic Oxidation for Net Climate Benefit Thermal catalytic oxidation has emerged as a promising technique to destroy methane from dilute sources, such as agricultural emissions in engineered indoor environments. The concentration of methane ...

New research led by graduate student Audrey Parker and co-authors in the Plata Lab and Prof. John Hart’s Mechanosynthesis Group established a framework to evaluate when methane destruction technologies deliver true, net climate benefit. pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Shifting storms, sweltering summers: Tehran faces future ‘Day Zero’ when the taps run dry The water crisis in Tehran reflects not only this summer’s extreme heat but also several consecutive years of reduced precipitation and ongoing drought conditions across Iran.

Tehran is approaching “Day Zero.” A @thebulletin.org article by Prof. Elfatih Eltahir and postdoc Yeon-Woo Choi shows how extreme heat and long-term drought have pushed city reservoirs to ~8% capacity, threatening water supplies for 10+ million residents. thebulletin.org/2025/12/shif...

Bigger datasets aren’t always better A new MIT system identifies the smallest possible dataset that can be used to optimally solve a complex problem with many potential solutions. This technique could help engineers or scientists solve p...

A new study co-authored by Prof. Saurabh Amin and colleagues in EECS and LIDS shows that more data isn’t always better. Their framework identifies when a minimal dataset can still produce optimal decisions, reducing cost and computational load. #MIT #SystemsEngineering news.mit.edu/2025/bigger-...

Observational evidence of the impact of electric vehicles on local air quality in the United States Replacement of internal combustion engine vehicles with battery electric vehicles (EVs) is expected to impact air quality. Previous projections, often relying on emissions inventories of precursors wi...

pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

#CleanEnergy #ElectricVehicles #Sustainability #AirQuality #ClimateAction #Environmentalengineering

The catch? They also found a potential increase in sulfur dioxide, likely from electricity still generated by fossil fuels and/or atmospheric interactions related to the decrease in nitrogen oxides, showing that realizing EVs' full potential depends on expanding clean, renewable energy.

A new study from Prof. Desirée Plata, graduate student Amélie Lemay, and colleagues at Princeton University found that increasing adoption of electric vehicles was associated with declines of major air pollutants — including nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, fine particles, and even summer ozone.

Beavers, Care Bears, and the Power of Compassionate Communication : Civil and Environmental Engineering Communication Lab Helping scientists communicate.

In a recent study, Comm Lab Manager Jared Berezin found that simple peer-support activities can strengthen learning and wellbeing—boosting connection, reducing stigma, and improving teamwork. mitcommlab.mit.edu/cee/2025/10/...

Darcy McRose and Mehtaab Sawhney ’20, PhD ’24 named 2025 Packard Fellows for Science and Engineering MIT professor and environmental microbiologist Darcy McRose is named 2025 Packard Fellow for Science and Engineering to pursue her research on secondary metabolites. Her research aims to uncover…

Congratulations to Prof. Darcy McRose on being named a 2025 Packard Fellow for Science and Engineering! 🎉 Her research explores how antibiotics shape ecosystems, agriculture, and health. @packardfdn.bsky.social news.mit.edu/2025/darcy-m...

Concrete “battery” developed at MIT now packs 10 times the power New concrete and carbon black supercapacitors with optimized electrolytes have 10 times the energy storage of previous designs and can be incorporated into a wide range of architectural forms.

A concrete “battery” developed by Professors Admir Masic, Franz-Josef Ulm, and researchers in the MIT CSHub now packs 10 times the power—unlocking the potential to turn the concrete around us into massive energy storage systems.
news.mit.edu/2025/concret...

Accounting for uncertainty to help engineers design complex systems MIT researchers developed a framework that can help engineers design systems that involve many interconnected parts in a way that explicitly accounts for the uncertainty in each component’s…

A new framework developed by @gioele-zardini.bsky.social, PhD student Yujun Huang and colleagues could change how engineers design autonomous vehicles, commercial aircraft, or transportation networks to handle real-world unpredictability. news.mit.edu/2025/account...

How South Asia Can Adapt to Extreme Heat Extreme heat waves could soon make conditions in large parts of our planet extremely dangerous.

South Asia is facing record-breaking heatwaves that could put millions at risk of life-threatening conditions. In a TIME op-ed, Prof. Elfatih Eltahir calls for urgent adaptation and aggressive action to curb carbon emissions. time.com/7319322/sout...

Technique makes complex 3D printed parts more reliable MIT engineers are incorporating the limitations of 3D printers into computer designs, to better control materials’ performance. The approach helps ensure printed structures perform the way they’re…

Prof. Josephine Carstensen and PhD student Hajin Kim-Tackowiak created a new design method that accounts for 3D printer limitations to better control materials’ performance in aerospace, medical, and other applications. news.mit.edu/2025/techniq...

People seated on steps outside, surrounded by modern buildings featuring geometric designs and colorful facades. Clear blue sky and green trees frame the scene.

Ready to engineer solutions for a sustainable future? Join us Sept. 25 @ 2PM ET for a Graduate Admissions Info session to learn how you can make a global impact through advanced study and research. Ready to apply now? Our grad application portal is open. apply.mit.edu/register/?id...

Gioele Zardini receives 2025 DARPA Young Faculty Award The award will support research into scalable, verifiable design of multi-agent autonomous systems Gioele Zardini has been named a 2025 recipient of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency…

Congrats to @gioele-zardini.bsky.social on receiving a 2025 DARPA Young Faculty Award to support his research into scalable, verifiable design of multi-agent autonomous systems. #AutonomousSystems #ScalableDesign #MIT #EngineeringResearch lids.mit.edu/news-and-eve...

Plant nutrient strategies could reshape carbon sink predictions - cee.mit.edu New study examines plants under elevated CO₂ and their impact on climate models Each year, plants and trees absorb roughly one-third of the carbon dioxide (CO₂) that human activities release into the…

Prof. César Terrer and Trevor Cambron SM ’25 examine plants under elevated CO2 and their impact on climate models in a new review paper published in @natclimate.nature.com
cee.mit.edu/plant-nutrie...

Eco-driving measures could significantly reduce vehicle emissions Implementing co-driving techniques, like the use of intelligent speed controls to mitigate congestion at traffic lights, can significantly reduce intersection carbon dioxide emissions without…

A new study led by Prof. Cathy Wu and colleagues reveals that eco-driving measures, such as dynamically adjusting vehicle speeds to reduce stopping and excessive acceleration, can cut carbon emissions between 11 and 22 percent. news.mit.edu/2025/eco-dri...

Their study shows that standard compartmental mathematical models such as the SIR model can miss the mark when data from multiple outbreak waves are unknowingly combined. To address this, they created new methods that help assess potential biases.

New research from Prof. Lydia Bourouiba and mentee and postdoc Naijian Shen uncovers a blind spot in how we model epidemic spread: combining data from different regions can skew estimates of contagion. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Why animals are a critical part of forest carbon absorption Following deforestation, tropical forests with healthy populations of seed-dispersing animals can absorb up to four times more carbon than similar forests with fewer seed-dispersing animals,…

A new study led by CEE research scientist Evan Fricke highlights the critical role seed dispersing animals play in forest carbon absorption, showing that when these animals decline, forests recover significantly less carbon—a key factor in climate change mitigation. news.mit.edu/2025/why-ani...

From left, Brian Roehrich, Nicholas Diaco, and Giorgio Rizzo received 2025 Kavanaugh Fellowship awards to commercialize their research. The yearlong program gives fellows time to focus on developing entrepreneurial and business-planning skills.

Congrats to Giorgio Rizzo, postdoc in the Marelli Lab, on receiving a Kavanaugh Fellowship. This award will support his work focused on a seed coating that boosts plant growth and reduces the need for synthetic fertilizers.

📸: Jason Sparapani

dmse.mit.edu/news/three-w...