School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Environmental Engineering Program and the Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering
Invite you to join us for the
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING SPRING 2026
COLLOQUIUM SERIES
Friday, April 24, 2026 - 12:20 PM
CAST 212 / Teams (tinyurl.com/enve-seminar)
Sensors in cities – how variable is urban air quality, and how can sensor networks support different types of urban decision making
Dr. Amy Mueller Associate Professor Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences Northeastern University
Abstract: The health implications, and associated disparities, of air pollution in urban environments - as well as the shortcomings in using regulatory monitoring networks to quantify these - are both well recognized. The iSUPER (Intelligent Solutions to Urban Pollution for Equity and Resilience) project is partnered with two Boston-area communities (Brookline and Chelsea, Massachusetts) to pilot very high density air quality sensor networks, understand connections between infrastructure operations/changes and air quality, and develop tools that support communities in designing, deploying, and leveraging air sensor networks as part of the portfolio of urban decision making support. The network of 150+ multi-parameter air quality sensors was co-designed to capture both spatial heterogeneity (hotspots in space and time) as well as provide data to generate insight relative to specific collaborator questions, such as the relationship between air quality and greenspaces, transportation interventions such as addition of bicycle and bus lanes, impact of freight traffic, etc. At a moment where many municipalities are considering the potential benefits of deploying air quality sensor networks, this talk will provide a “behind-the-scenes” look at the realities of sensor network deployments from a practical, data quality, and insight generation point of view, connecting this to spatial and social disparities, urban renovation, and the cutting-edge science and data science needed to support these insights.
Bio: Dr. Amy Mueller is an Associate Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Marine and Environmental Sciences at Northeastern University. Dr. Mueller’s research lab – in collaboration with municipalities, community groups, and agencies – works at the intersection of urban/coastal biogeochemistry and infrastructure, designing novel sensors and sensor networks that leverage physics-informed data-driven approaches to deliver higher resolution, useable environmental data in an urban context. Dr. Mueller holds S.B., M. Eng. and Ph.D. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, and Civil and Environmental Engineering.
For more information, contact: Dr. Zhi Li at 860 486 2450