The Role of Community Engagement in Achieving Sustainability Goals

​​The Center for Urban Science + Progress (CUSP) and the Sustainable Engineering Initiative at NYU Tandon invite you to attend a panel discussion featuring Maria d’Orsogna, Yuki Miura, Andrea Silverman, and Bridger Ruyle in conversation with Maurizio Porfiri and Miguel Modestino.

This event will take place in Room 233 (Co-Lab), located on the second floor of 370 Jay Street.

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About the Speakers

​Dr. Yuki Miura is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Center for Urban Science and Progress at NYU. She is also a faculty advisory board member at the Volatility and Risk Institute at NYU Stern School of Business. She is a member of New York City Panel on Climate Change (NPCC5). Previously, she worked at Morgan Stanley in climate risk management and quantitative strategy.

Her research is at the intersection of engineering, climate science, finance, and social sciences. She develops data-driven strategies to mitigate natural hazards and build resilient cities. By coupling advanced modeling with in-depth understanding of socioeconomic factors, she provides actionable solutions for both public and private institutions. She has collaborated with the National Center of Atmospheric Research and the governments of New York State/City. Her work has been recognized through publications in leading journals and featured in The New Yorker and The New York Times.


Dr. Maria d’Orsogna is a Professor of Mathematics at California State University, Northridge, and a Professor of Computational Medicine at UCLA. She earned her PhD in Theoretical Physics from UCLA in 2003.

​Her research spans a broad range of topics at the interface of mathematics, the social sciences, and biology. She uses tools from statistical mechanics, quantitative modeling, and data analysis to study collective decision-making, and the emergence of cooperation and conflict in human groups. Her work also includes quantifying and modeling substance abuse and psychiatric disorders, such as PTSD and major depressive disorder, as well as swarming behavior and cellular transport phenomena.

​Professor D’Orsogna is the author of more than 80 scientific publications and served as Associate Director of the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics at UCLA from 2018 to 2021. Her work is supported by the National Science Foundation and the Army Research Office.

​In parallel with her academic research, Professor D’Orsogna has been actively involved in environmental advocacy. Beginning in 2007, she played a leading role in grassroots efforts opposing offshore oil and gas exploitation in Italy. Her work contributed to the passage of national legislation banning drilling within 12 nautical miles of the coast and helped protect approximately 60,000 square miles of sea from oil drilling. Her advocacy combined scientific analysis, public lecturing, community organizing, and engagement with policymakers to safeguard coastal and marine environments.


Dr. Bridger Ruyle is an Assistant Professor of environmental engineering in the Civil and Urban Engineering (CUE) Department at New York University Tandon School of Engineering. His research explores how human activity, the biosphere, and climate change affect water quality. Specifically, research foci in the Ruyle lab include developing analytical tools to quantify chemical contamination in environmental media and associated uncertainty, understanding biogeochemistry and impacts of fluorinated chemicals including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS, i.e. forever chemicals) and pharmaceuticals, and integrating in-situ and remote sensing data to assess climate impacts on water quality.


Dr. Andrea Silverman is an Associate Professor of environmental engineering in the Department of Civil and Urban Engineering at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, and is also affiliated with the Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP) at NYU. Dr. Silverman’s research is centered on water quality, wastewater treatment, and urban flooding, with an overarching goal to protect public health and environmental quality. Within the broad topics of water and wastewater treatment, she focuses on the detection and disinfection of waterborne pathogens, wastewater-based epidemiology, the design of natural wastewater treatment systems (e.g., treatment ponds and constructed wetlands), and the safe reuse of human waste. Dr. Silverman works in both high- and low-income settings, and has conducted field research in New York City; California; Accra, Ghana; and Nairobi, Kenya.

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​​About the Moderators

​Dr. Miguel Modestino is the Director of the Sustainable Engineering Initiative and Donald F. Othmer Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at NYU Tandon. Dr. Modestino's research lies at the interface of multifunctional material development and electrochemical engineering. Electrochemical devices are ubiquitous to a broad range of energy conversion technologies and chemical processes. Their core components rely on complex materials that provide the required electrocatalytic activity and mass transport functionality. Dr. Modestino's group has expertise in composite materials development, processing and characterization; and this expertise is used to improve and redefine electrochemical reactors with direct industrial applications. Dr. Modestino's applied research approach also relies on fundamental understanding of the materials’ self-assembly and how their morphology and surface properties affects the mass transport and performance of electrochemical devices.


Dr. Maurizio Porfiri is an Institute Professor at New York University Tandon School of Engineering, with tenured appointments at the Departments of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Biomedical Engineering. He is also the Director of the Center for Urban Science + Progress and Interim Chair of the Civil and Urban Engineering Department at NYU Tandon, as well as the inaugural Director of the Urban Institute. He received M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Engineering Mechanics from Virginia Tech, in 2000 and 2006; a “Laurea” in Electrical Engineering (with honors) and a Ph.D. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from Sapienza University of Rome and the University of Toulon (dual degree program), in 2001 and 2005, respectively. He has been on the faculty of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department since 2006, when he founded the Dynamical Systems Laboratory.

​​​​​​Visitor Information

​​This event will take place in Room 233 (Co-Lab), located on the second floor of 370 Jay Street. Please visit the NYU Tandon website for directions and a campus map. Advance registration through Luma is required for campus access at NYU for external guests.