Category: Research and Innovation

Patricia J. Culligan and two students stand on a green roof in New York City, examining data from a monitoring device. The roof has grass and plants, with the Empire State Building and other buildings visible in the background under a clear blue sky.

Optimizing for people: a conversation with Patricia Culligan on urban green infrastructure

As urban populations grow and temperatures rise, city dwellers will rely on cool, green, shady places as never before. Green infrastructure—such as green roofs, rain gardens, urban forests—offer sustainable solutions to the water management and heat dissipation challenges unique to cities. …

Ming Hu

Notre Dame researchers create new tool to analyze embodied carbon in more than 1 million buildings in Chicago

The built environment — which includes the construction and operation of buildings, highways, bridges and other infrastructure — is responsible for close to 40 percent of the global greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change. While many building codes and benchmarks have …

Paola Crippa

Downwind states face disproportionate burden of air pollution

A recent Supreme Court decision to block a federal rule curbing interstate air pollution further complicates efforts to reduce emissions and adds to an already disproportionate burden on “downwind” states, according to researchers at the University of Notre Dame. “Toxic air pollution is …

Tracy Kijewski-Correa

Notre Dame researcher champions local leadership for life-saving disaster assessment

The earthquake that struck southwest Haiti in August 2021 killed thousands of people and left more than half a million seeking help. New research by a University of Notre Dame expert finds that the assessment of this disaster can serve as a model for evaluating future disasters and making …

Notre Dame study demonstrates that bacterial biofilms are not the same throughout, possibly describing one reason common antibiotics may fail

The bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa is almost everywhere — in the soil, water, and vegetation. While it does not cause disease for most people, it can lead to serious disease or death for people with compromised immune systems. The bacteria easily adhere to surfaces, creating structures …

A composite rendering of a hurricane over ocean and land

Into high waves and turbulence: engineers deploy smart devices to improve hurricane forecasts

Predicting hurricane intensity has lagged behind tracking its path because the forces driving the storm have been difficult and dangerous to measure—until now. “When we’re talking 150, 200-mph winds, with 30-foot waves, you don’t send a boat and crew out there to collect data,” …

The moon over Golden Dome and Basilica.

Notre Dame elected to Universities Space Research Association to advance space exploration research

The University of Notre Dame has been inducted into the Universities Space Research Association (USRA). Founded in 1969 under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences at the request of the U.S. Government, the USRA is a nonprofit corporation chartered to advance space-related science, …

An image of the JOIDES research vessel with a stormy sky in the background

Sea-going expedition unearths clues to ancient climate

Millions of years ago, cataclysmic tectonic events closed the passageway between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, triggering profound changes in ocean circulation, temperature and salinity.  The JOIDES Resolution, a 470-ft research vessel capable of drilling cores three miles below …

Notre Dame STEM faculty receive Highly Cited Researcher recognition

Kyle Bibby, professor of civil and environmental engineering and earth sciences, and Prashant V. Kamat, the Reverend John A. Zahm Professor of Science in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, have been named to Clarivate’s 2023 list of Highly Cited Researchers (HCR).   Kyle …

Grace Arntz-Johnson

Grace Arntz-Johnson receives U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Student Research Award

Grace Arntz-Johnson, a Ph.D. student in Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences at the University of Notre Dame, has received the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) award. The award supports research opportunities at DOE …