J-WAFS at MIT

The MIT Climate & Sustainability Consortium (MCSC) recently announced the recipients of their 2024 seed awards. Several J-WAFS PIs received funding to focus on emerging, scalable solutions for climate and sustainability challenges in the water and agriculture sectors. ?? Past J-WAFS PI Professor Dara Entekhabi will examine aquifer water withdrawals with satellite observations. ?? J-WAFS PI Professor Darcy McRose will focus on optimizing inhibitors for the suppression of nitrous oxide from agricultural soils. ?? J-WAFS PI Professor Sherrie Wang will work on the remote sensing of soil organic carbon using machine learning. Congratulations to the winning PIs and their research teams! Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dHmpC9ui

J-WAFS fellows Arjav Shah and Devashish Gokhale recently published an article, titled “Navigating micropollutant contamination: A review of industrial wastewater technologies and policies in the U.S.,” in the MIT Science Policy Review. The article highlights regulatory gaps that allow environmental contaminants to persist in water and examines the limitations of current technologies for removing micropollutants. The authors note, however, that recent regulatory changes and advancements in technology and manufacturing are driving improvements in water quality. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eGHcjFRA?

The MIT Industrial Liaison Program is hosting the 2024 MIT Research and Development Conference, themed “Fostering Bold Ideas to Breakthrough Innovation,” from November 19 to November 20, 2024, at the Boston Marriott in Cambridge. At the conference, J-WAFS executive director Renee Robins will present an overview of the work J-WAFS supports. Additionally, past J-WAFS PIs MIT AeroAstro Professor Olivier L. de Weck and MIT EECS Professor Jongyoon Han will present their research on space launch vehicle technologies and the development of a cellular biophysical profiling assay for cancer care, respectively. Attendees will also have the chance to tour the labs of two J-WAFS PIs. Participants will explore MIT Chemical Engineering (ChemE) Professor Patrick Doyle’s resin manufacturing and purification projects using hydrogel microparticles, and MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE) Professor Cem Tasan’s method for reducing water consumption in steelmaking, both advancing sustainable solutions. Learn more and register here: https://lnkd.in/eUgSepS2

Last month, MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning PhD student Mrinalini Penumaka received a J-WAFS travel grant to attend the 2024 UNC Water and Health Conference! The conference convened policymakers, practitioners, and researchers to discuss new and existing strategies to ensure safe, affordable, and sustainable water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) services. The conference was pertinent to Mrin’s research, which examines how climate change impacts infrastructure development and service provisioning, specifically in the water and sanitation sector in rapidly urbanizing cities in South Asia and southern Africa. Learn more about Mrin’s experience here: https://lnkd.in/eEahmpSp

The MIT Industrial Liaison Program spoke to MIT Chemical Engineering (ChemE) professor and J-WAFS PI Ariel Furst about her work to utilize microbes for regenerative agriculture. Furst discussed her lab’s work on developing microbial solutions aimed at replacing harmful agrochemicals with natural processes that can enhance soil health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, she emphasized the importance of making this technology accessible to farmers of all economic backgrounds to advance both energy and agricultural justice. Watch the video here: https://lnkd.in/dNRRRfsW

This fall, the J-WAFS-led Food and Climate Systems Transformation (FACT) Alliance and the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU) are co-hosting three, virtual seminars on how the effects of climate change are impacting water and food security. The second in the series, titled “Land and fragility amid a changing climate” will take place on Thursday, November 21, 2024 from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. ET. The panelists will discuss how climate-induced fragilities impact social and environmental resilience. Panelists: Professor Erin Coughlan de Perez, Tufts University; Prof Alex O. Awiti, CIFOR-ICRAF Hosts: Michael Hauser, BOKU/CIFOR-ICRAF; Greg Sixt, MIT Learn more and register here: https://lnkd.in/eFX6NbaT??

Congratulations to director of the J-WAFS-led FACT Alliance Greg Sixt and team on this publication! ??

?? Fellowship opportunity! ?? Applications for the 2025-2026 cohort of MIT Martin Family Society of Fellows for Sustainability are now open. A nominee for the Martin Fellowship should be working in the environment and sustainability as indicated by their statement of interest, subjects taken, and proposed research area. This Fellowship: ?? Supports 10 PhD students across a range of disciplines, prioritizing representation from each of MIT’s five schools; ?? Awards two semesters of full funding (tuition and a stipend); and ?? Requires the support of a nominating MIT faculty member to provide an appraisal of the student’s qualifications and capabilities. Visit the Martin Fellows' website for more information on how to apply. Applications close on February 5, 2025. #EnvironmentalResearch #Fellowship #MITSustainability

J-WAFS is hosting a series of in-person visiting scholar seminars this fall, around the theme of climate and agricultural adaptation and mitigation. Join us on Thursday, November 14 from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. ET for the final seminar in the series! Led by Professor Neda Trifkovic of the University of Copenhagen (K?benhavns Universitet), the seminar will focus on how smallholder farmers in Mozambique are adapting to climate change in order to protect their economic livelihoods, and how their strategies fit with broader approaches to agricultural development. Learn more and register here: https://lnkd.in/dwcdp4tN

Several past and present J-WAFS PIs are working on technologies aimed at boosting crop resilience in the face of climate change and a simultaneously growing global population. ?? MIT Chemical Engineering (ChemE) Professor Ariel Furst is creating a microbial alternative to the energy-intensive conventional method of fertilizer production. ?? MIT Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Benedetto Marelli has developed seed coatings, based on silk and other polymers, that can protect seeds against drought, ultraviolet light exposure, and high salinity. ???? MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering (MechE) Professor Kripa Varanasi is developing tools to help farmers more efficiently use pesticides to prevent excess runoff. ?? MIT Chemical Engineering Professor Michael Strano has created plant sensors to signal when a plant is under distress. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eVe5GJ3E