Managing air pollution, toxic substances, and climate change is a complex, linked sustainability challenge. To better inform efforts to address these issues, we need to understand how policies to address emissions translate into societal benefits.
In this talk, Dr. Selin will present work from her research group, using a systems approach to better understand air pollutants such as particulate matter, ozone, and mercury. Examples include assessing the air pollution and related health impacts of proposed regulations to address climate change in the U.S. and China, and quantifying the domestic and international benefits of mercury reduction policies in China, India, and the U.S.
She also will summarize recent work examining how society’s interactions with mercury as a resource and a pollutant over time can help illuminate interactions of human, technological, and environmental systems of relevance to sustainability.
Effectively informing decision-making also requires interactions with decision-makers: Dr. Selin describes ways in which we have incorporated public and policy engagement in our work, and examine how research on air pollution, toxic substances, and climate has influenced policy.