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K-State Today

March 27, 2023

March 30: 'Urban Transportation in the Complex Interdependency of Human and Environmental Systems'

Submitted by Trisha Brown

Melissa Allen-Dumas, research scientist in the Computational Sciences and Engineering Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, will present "Urban Transportation in the Complex Interdependency of Human and Environmental Systems" at the K-State Institute of Transportation Engineers seminar at 4 p.m. Thursday, March 30, via Zoom.

Allen-Dumas holds a doctorate in energy science and engineering and a master's in environmental engineering from the University of Tennessee. Her expertise includes global and regional modeling and analysis of atmospheric species transport, statistical and dynamical downscaling of various climate model outputs, analysis of direct and indirect effects of climate change on electricity demand and on other national and civic critical infrastructures.

Talk summary: Residents of urban areas drive many of the interactions among built infrastructure and the natural environment. Socioeconomic processes in particular dictate which structures are built and where they are located. These locations, then, must be reached by the inhabitants of urban areas for work, school, recreation and other life and social needs. This human activity contributes to the thermodynamics of the ambient air in a variety of ways, including contributions of waste heat from automobiles, building equipment and industrial processes. This talk will focus on the role that transportation plays in the overall framework of urban systems and how coupling transportation models to building, population and weather models in large computing environments can help guide decision-making for the cities of the future.

Register in advance for the meeting. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.