Students

Emmie is interested in the fundamental processes that drive air quality and in developing better tools to assess the human health impacts from air pollution and climate change. Before coming to MIT, she worked at Washington University in St. Louis on the laboratory operations for the Surface Particulate Matter Network (SPARTAN) and conducted research at the Carnegie Institution for Science on modeling aerosol-induced changes to monsoon climates. Emmie earned her Sc.B. in Geology-Chemistry from Brown University where her bachelor’s thesis focused on the use of stable isotopes to identify sources of ammonium in urban precipitation. Outside of work, she loves going outdoors and in water, learning languages, trying new food trucks, and being an avid pedestrian.

Yuang is interested in understanding and solving issues in climate change, air quality and energy systems with mathematical and modeling approaches. At MIT, he is working toward efficient and rigorous climate and air pollution predictions, also setting ground for relevant policy analysis. Before joining MIT, Yuang earned his bachelor's degree in environmental science at Peking University. Yuang loves badminton and traveling in his free time.

Lexia’s research interests involve the atmospheric transport of pollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and learning to model and understand the relationships between anthropogenic influences, atmospheric cycling, and chemical properties. She earned a B.A. in Chemistry and a B.A. in Earth and Environmental Science from Boston University. While there, she worked with Lucy Hutyra and the Campus Climate Lab investigating the impacts of the COVID-19 shutdown on the university’s CO2 and CH4 emissions, concentrations, and energy use. She was also a member of the Coker group at Boston University where she used QM/MM modeling techniques to understand the down conversion of light in algae for applications in solar panels. During her free time she enjoys cooking vegan food, reading nonfiction, playing board games, hiking, and obstacle course racing.​

Eric is interested in improving the representation of observational datasets and meteorological uncertainty within global mercury models. Prior to attending MIT, Eric earned dual B.S. degrees in Atmospheric Science and Mathematics from UMass Lowell, where his honors thesis investigated the linkages between mercury concentrations, fluxes, and the planetary boundary layer from observations measured over two forest sites. As an undergrad, Eric also interned with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Air Resources Lab through the NOAA Lapenta Internship Program (2020) and with the NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Lab as a NOAA Hollings Scholar (2021). When outside of the lab, Eric enjoys hiking, mountain biking, and golfing.

Chris is interested in improving numerical methods for climate simulations while focusing on the interface between research and policy-making, investigating how different stakeholders influence model development. He received his S.M. in Technology and Policy in 2024 and is currently pursuing a PhD in Aerospace Computational Engineering. Prior to joining the group, he worked with David Darmofal in the Aerospace Computational Design Laboratory (ACDL) studying the impacts of curved meshing on higher-order, adaptive finite element methods (FEM). He earned his B.S. from MIT in Aerospace Engineering with a focus in numerical methods for partial differential equations, researching the accuracy and convergence of stabilized FEM as an undergraduate research assistant in the ACDL. He is an active member of MIT’s Ballroom Dance Team and in his free time he enjoys watching movies, playing video games, and spending time outdoors.

Andrew’s research interests lie at the intersection of transportation, energy systems, and atmospheric science. Andrew is also enthusiastic about pedagogy, working as an instructor at Wentworth Institute of Technology and assisting in the delivery of MIT courses sponsored by NASA Goddard, Blue Origin, and others. In his doctoral work, he is assessing the climate and air quality impacts of replacing flights with passenger rail travel in the United States. Andrew completed his master’s degree with the MIT Gas Turbine Laboratory, exploring the design space of hydrogen-fueled propulsion systems for electrified civil aircraft. Prior to attending MIT, he received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Penn State University. In his free time, Andrew enjoys cycling, local music, watching football (Go Birds!), and playing video games.