Christopher Tessum

Dr. Christopher Tessum is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on modeling air pollution's health impacts, environmental inequities, and developing machine learning-driven solutions. He holds a Ph.D. and B.M.E. from the University of Minnesota.

Education:

• B.M.E. in Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota (2006)
• M.S. in Civil, Environmental, and Geo-Engineering, University of Minnesota (2012)
• Ph.D. in Civil, Environmental, and Geo-Engineering, University of Minnesota (2014)

Research Interests:

• Mechanistic modeling of air pollution and health effects
• Environmental equity analysis
• Machine learning for atmospheric modeling
• Policy-relevant solutions for pollution reduction

Key Contributions:

• Developed the InMAP intervention model for air quality analysis
• Highlighted systemic inequities in air pollution exposure for people of color
• Pioneered surrogate modeling techniques to accelerate chemical transport simulations

Awards:

• NSF CAREER Award (202X)
• NASA Early Career Faculty Award (202X)
• NSF Collaborations in AI & Geosciences Award (202X)