Dr Marguerite Nyhan is an associate professor/senior lecturer in environmental engineering and future sustainability in the School of Engineering & Architecture at University College Cork. Dr Nyhan is also principal investigator of UCC Sustainable Futures and director of the Future Sustainability Research Group at MaREI, the Science Foundation Ireland research centre for energy, climate and the marine, coordinated by the Environmental Research Institute at UCC. In this interview, she talks about big data solutions to sustainability and humanitarian problems and achieving net zero in industry and enterprise.
Tell us about your current work.
I’m an associate professor/senior lecturer in environmental engineering and future sustainability in the School of Engineering & Architecture at University College Cork (UCC). My research focuses on developing the science underpinning intelligent solutions for sustainable, net zero, healthy, liveable and equitable cities of the future. I also focus on environment- and climate-related policies. My research group sits within the MaREI Centre and the Environmental Research Institute.
Tell us about your academic journey.
I studied Civil, Structural & Environmental Engineering at UCC. I then did my PhD in Environmental Engineering in Trinity College Dublin. From there, I was invited to conduct research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston. While at MIT, I led research in the area of urban environmental engineering and the data-driven design of sustainable and human-centered cities. As my research evolved, I was recruited to Harvard University where I worked on applying these new methodologies to environmental exposure and environmental epidemiological studies. While I was at Harvard, I was offered a research scientist position at the United Nations. So I moved to New York to lead a team in constructing Big Data solutions to humanitarian and sustainable development problems. My mission was to harness emerging technologies including data analytics and artificial intelligence in ethical and responsible ways for informing the important work of the United Nations, including the work of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. I then had a great opportunity to join UCC as a faculty member in engineering so that led me back home to Cork.
What are you working on at the moment?
In my research, I harness technology using globally scalable approaches to inform the design of sustainable and healthy cities. For example, I use data from sensor networks and technologies such as smartphones, and I apply statistical and artificial intelligence-derived models to these data to better understand the environmental health pulse of cities. This includes understanding the dynamics of urban environmental metrics including emissions, air pollution and greenspace as well as human and transport mobility patterns. I do this in unprecedented spatiotemporal resolution and scale, often at the scale of entire cities or megacities. I also study human exposures to urban environmental metrics and the human health impacts of these exposures using environmental epidemiological modelling methods.
What areas of sustainability and environmental engineering excite you the most right now?
I’m interested in how we can use vast digital imagery datasets for developing new urban environmental metrics. For example, we’ve recently processed millions of Google Street View images to develop detailed maps of urban greenspace for cities in Ireland and around the world – and we’ve then applied these datasets to environmental epidemiological studies.
My research group are also supporting the Net Zero Cities initiative which includes the aim for 100 European Union cities to be classified as net zero by the year 2030. For this, we are modelling urban emissions in extremely high spatial resolution for multiple sectors including transport, housing, and industry. The city will be able to use our detailed emissions datasets and maps as a baseline for developing a climate action plan for reaching net zero by 2030.
Your work has focused on harnessing emerging technologies for sustainable development and humanitarian efforts. What are some of your key research findings in this area?
In a nutshell, I constructed Big Data solutions to humanitarian problems at the United Nations. The group I worked in, was set up to accelerate the adoption of emerging technologies and data-based prediction in sustainable development and humanitarian efforts. The group has played a seminal role in the creation of a global movement around finding safe and responsible ways to use Big Data and artificial intelligence for the public good.
As examples, I worked on refugee settlement mapping using high resolution satellite imagery and convolutional neural network models. This would inform the optimal distribution of resources and aid on the ground. I also worked on the Data4Refugees project, which developed data-driven solutions for improving the provision of welfare, health and educational services to displaced persons.
You direct UCC Sustainable Futures and you founded the Sustainable Futures Lab. Can you tell us about these?
Sustainable Futures is focused on climate action, environmental sustainability and achieving net zero in industry and enterprise. One of our overarching aims to help leaders to act on climate change and sustainability by applying academic rigour to real-world problems through engagement with industry. As part of Sustainable Futures, through our educational programmes, we are building and fostering a community and a collaborative environment. Our aim is to educate and inform sustainability leaders who will catalyse and accelerate change across multiple sectors for a sustainability and net zero future.
The Sustainable Futures Lab is a space for teaching and learning, for research, for engaging with our enterprise partners and the public. It’s an inspiring, open, collaborative, and inclusive place for everyone, in which to innovate new and novel solutions for a sustainable, net zero and nature positive future.
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