INSTAAR welcomes two new faculty fellows
INSTAAR has hired two new faculty fellows,Laura Sunberg ԻZhi Li. Both Sunberg and Li will join thedepartment of civil, environmental and architectural engineering as assistant professors in addition to conducting research at INSTAAR.
Though Sunberg is new to her position, she is not new to INSTAAR. For the past two years, she has studied how microplastics circulate through the ocean during an at the institute. Starting last year, she also served as the postdoc representative on the INSTAAR directorate, the institute’s governing body. As a faculty fellow, she will now rejoin the directorate as a voting member.
Sunberg will join a small, but growing cohort of INSTAAR researchers with expertise in environmental fluid mechanics. Institute leadership hope that her appointment will spark new collaborations and expand the institute’s focus on emerging environmental hazards.
“Dr. Sunberg’s novel laboratory and numerical modeling studies of microplastic and firebrand transport will expand INSTAAR’s research portfolio into new areas of growing environmental concern,” INSTAAR director Nicole Lovenduski said.
Zhi Li comes to INSTAAR after wrapping up a postdoctoral position at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. He is an expert in surface water modeling, with a particular focus on refining flood prediction methods. At INSTAAR, he also plans to establish a “collaboratory” aimed at understanding the overlapping impacts of climate change and flooding on agriculture, infrastructure and public health.
This summer, Li was quoted in multiple stories covering flash flooding across the U.S., including. Li will join a growing number of INSTAAR members studying climate-related extremes and hazards, an emerging focus area for the institute.
“Dr. Li will elevate INSTAAR’s research on climate-related extremes by bringing additional expertise on hydrology and flood impacts,” Lovenduski said. “His numerical modeling research will complement the CSDMS program, and his community efforts will enhance INSTAAR’s public engagement.”