Qi Li

Qi Li is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University's College of Engineering, holding indefinite tenure effective November 1, 2024. Her research bridges environmental engineering, atmospheric science, and computational fluid dynamics with focus on urban environments.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, 2016
• B.A. in Physics and Mathematics, Carleton College, 2011

Li specializes in fluid dynamics, heat transfer, and hydrologic processes in built environments using high-performance computing (LES/DNS) and field data. Her work develops physical understanding of momentum, energy, and mass transport to improve urban representations in weather and dispersion models, addressing sustainability challenges in city planning and environmental management.

Analysis of her 2016-2017 publications reveals consistent focus on numerical modeling of urban atmospheric processes, turbulence, and scalar transport. Her research demonstrates interdisciplinary integration of computational methods with environmental applications, particularly in urban canopy modeling and measurement correction techniques.

Scientific recognition includes:

• Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Fellow (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, 2016)
• Gordon Y.S. Wu Prize in Engineering (Princeton University, 2015)
• Princeton Energy and Climate Scholar (2014)

Li actively engages in community initiatives, recently securing an Einhorn Center Engaged Opportunity Grant (March 2025) to upgrade the Coddington Road Community Center for youth programming, demonstrating commitment to practical applications of engineering knowledge.