Lucas Henneman

Lucas Henneman is an Assistant Professor in the Sid and Reva Dewberry Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering at George Mason University's Volgenau School of Engineering. His research focuses on the intersection of air pollution, health, and environmental policy, with particular emphasis on how regulations have improved air quality and public health outcomes.

Dr. Henneman earned his PhD in Environmental Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, following MS and BS degrees in the same field from Georgia Tech and Johns Hopkins University, respectively. His educational background provided the foundation for his current work at the Health and Air Quality (HAQ) Lab where he leads research on air pollution accountability.

Henneman's research interests center on air quality modeling, environmental justice, regulatory accountability, and the health impacts of air pollution. He employs large datasets and computer models to track pollution from emission sources to human exposure, with a particular focus on coal power plants and their impacts on vulnerable populations. His work demonstrates how environmental regulations have significantly improved air quality and public health, with notable findings on how emission reductions at coal power plants over the last twenty years have increased life expectancy nationwide.

His recent publications reveal a strong focus on quantifying the health benefits of air pollution regulations, with particular attention to environmental justice issues. His research shows that coal power plant emissions have created inequitable exposure patterns, with racial and ethnic minorities bearing disproportionate health burdens. His widely cited Science paper on mortality risk from U.S. coal electricity generation has been featured in major media outlets including The New York Times.

• Walter A. Rosenblith New Investigator for 2021
• Research cited by John Kerry in call for no new coal plants
• Multiple publications in high-impact journals including Science and Environmental Health Perspectives

As an educator, Henneman teaches courses in air pollution formation and control, climate change engineering and policy, environmental engineering systems, and research methods. He mentors numerous graduate students working on projects related to neighborhood-level air quality assessment, environmental justice, and air pollution source impacts. His lab (HAQ Lab) develops innovative methods to create evidence for continued improvements in environmental policy at scales ranging from local to global.