Christopher M Tessum

Christopher M. Tessum is an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, holding joint appointments in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). His research focuses on air pollution, environmental health, and sustainability science, with an emphasis on quantifying health impacts of emissions and advancing equity in environmental policy.

Key research areas include atmospheric chemistry modeling, health equity in pollution exposure, and the development of computational tools to accelerate air quality analysis. He has pioneered machine learning approaches to reduce the computational burden of chemical transport models, enabling high-resolution environmental impact assessments. His work frequently addresses global and regional disparities in pollution exposure caused by energy systems, transportation, and trade.

Recent publications highlight his contributions to understanding mortality risks from coal power plants in India, equity implications of vehicle electrification, and the application of computer vision for hyperlocal air pollution monitoring. Tessum received the NSF CAREER Award in 2024 for his innovative interdisciplinary research.

His research outputs span 46 peer-reviewed articles and datasets, including collaborative work on frameworks for integrating equity into sustainability science modeling. He leads projects at the intersection of environmental engineering, computational science, and public policy, aiming to inform evidence-based decision-making for cleaner energy systems and healthier communities.