MIT CEE
Latest news and research from MIT's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- 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...
- 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-...
- 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...
- 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...
- 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...
- 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...
- 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...
- 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/...
- 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...
- 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-...
- 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.
- 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.
- pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a... #CleanEnergy #ElectricVehicles #Sustainability #AirQuality #ClimateAction #Environmentalengineering
- 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/...
- 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...
- 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...
- 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...
- 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...
- 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...
- 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...
- 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...
- 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...
- 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...
- 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/...
- 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.
- 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...
- 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...
- Prof. John Ochsendorf is reimagining how we build and preserve America’s bridges—by looking to the past. “How do we build bridges that are cost effective, have lower environmental impact, and are also beautiful to look at?" he asks. www.wcvb.com/article/exte...
- Prof. Elfatih Eltahir joins The Joy of Why podcast to explain why we need more local and social data, like disease spread and population growth, to better predict and address climate-related challenges. www.quantamagazine.org/how-can-regi...
- Prof. Saurabh Amin has received a 2025 MIT Energy Initiative Seed Fund to develop DecarbAI—an AI-powered tool using LLMs and ML to help plan clean energy grids as data center electricity demand surges. energy.mit.edu/news/mit-ene...
- Congrats to postdoc Maya Anjur-Dietrich on receiving a Career Award at the Scientific Interface from the Burroughs-Wellcome Fund. This honor supports early-career researchers at the intersection of biology and the physical, computational & mathematical sciences. www.bwfund.org/news/bwf-ann...
- A study from the Marelli Lab shows how a common fertilizer ingredient could enable new ways to increase plants’ resilience to UV stress and enhance seedling growth. news.mit.edu/2025/study-s...
- Nth Cycle, co-founded by Prof. Desirée Plata, is advancing critical metals refining in the U.S. by producing nickel and cobalt from battery scrap in Ohio. news.mit.edu/2025/nth-cyc...
- A new study by @mancusosci.bsky.social and @contaminatedsci.bsky.social shows that intraspecies microbial conflict can block new strains from settling in. If we want long-lasting probiotics, we must account for battles within species, not just between them. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- Congratulations to Prof. David Simchi-Levi on being awarded the Harold Larnder Prize from the Canadian Operational Research Society. The award recognizes an individual who has achieved international distinction in operational research.
- Congrats to Ernie Lee on being awarded a Croucher Scholarship for Doctoral Study. This award will support Lee’s research exploring the impacts of spatial heterogeneity and seasonal variations on the salt marsh wave attenuation performances.
- Community members gathered with Vice President for Energy and Climate Evelyn Wang to explore the Climate Project at MIT, make connections, and exchange ideas. news.mit.edu/2025/each-of...
- In a new study, researchers in IDSS, LIDS, EECS and CEE collaborate to discover the root cause of a type of bias in LLMs, paving the way for more accurate and reliable AI systems. news.mit.edu/2025/unpacki...
- Isabella Stewart and Skylar Gering were named 2025 DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellows! 🎉 Their research, on AI-driven materials design and offshore wind modeling, uses high-performance computing to tackle complex environmental challenges. cee.mit.edu/mit-civil-an...
- We are pleased to announce new leadership for our two research laboratories. Effective July 1, Prof. John Ochsendorf will serve as the Director of the Pierce Laboratory, and Prof. Desirée Plata as Director of the Parsons Laboratory. cee.mit.edu/cee-announce...
- A team led by Soroush Mahjoubi, a postdoc in CEE, built a machine-learning framework that evaluates and sorts candidate materials for cleaner concrete based on their physical and chemical properties. news.mit.edu/2025/ai-stir...
- A review paper led by Evan Fricke, a research scientist in the Terrer Lab, highlights seed disperser decline and what it means for biodiversity, climate resilience, and ecosystem recovery. rdcu.be/emz6t
- A new study from a team of researchers including Prof. César Terrer and research scientist Evan Fricke maps out where tree restoring can have the biggest impact, without interfering with food, water, or wildlife. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
- A study from the Nepf Lab helps pinpoint areas where microplastics are likely to build up, revealing that biofilms deposited by living organisms reduce the accumulation of small particles, while areas of bare sand can be hotspots. news.mit.edu/2025/study-h...
- Prof. Jesse Kroll received the 2025 Capers and Marion McDonald Award, which is given annually to a faculty member who has demonstrated a lasting commitment to the personal and professional development of others. engineering.mit.edu/connect/news...
- Prof. Dave Des Marais is the recipient of the 2025 Samuel M. Seegal Prize, which honors faculty who inspire students to pursue and achieve excellence. @evodaveo.bsky.social
- Cheers to our amazing CEE master’s and doctoral grads!🎓 We’re so proud of all you’ve accomplished. Congratulations, Class of 2025! 📸: Jake Belcher
- Saurabh Amin has received the 2025 Common Ground Excellence in Teaching Award for his exceptional contributions in teaching classes with substantial computing content and its positive impact on students.
- Course 1-12 senior Ananda Santos Figueiredo is shaping the future through a system thinking approach. “I had this persistent feeling that I was meant to go somewhere else to learn more, explore, and do more,” she says.
