Sustainability & Environment

Inspired by a dog’s nose, researchers at Harvard have developed an affordable air quality sensor called Project Air that can detect and discern indoor pollutants with nearly 100 percent accuracy.

After experiencing Hurricane Katrina firsthand, Radcliffe Fellow Rob Verchick JD ’89 is examining the human-fueled disasters facing our oceans and how scientists, politicians, and the public can help.

As part of the Harvard-China Project, Emily Xing ’27 was one of three engineering students who traveled to Beijing to learn how the country is developing and deploying renewable energy.

At Harvard Forest, ecologist Neil Pederson and Ramapough Lenape tribe member Keshia De Freece Lawrence blend research with Indigenous knowledge to protect vulnerable habitats.

According to a study from Harvard, in collaboration with the University of Birmingham, the University of Leicester, and University College London, air pollution from burning fossil fuels was responsible for about one in five deaths worldwide in 2018—significantly higher than previous research suggested.

New faculty appointed to Harvard Chan School’s Department of Environmental Health are studying how a variety of environmental factors—including an individual’s total environmental exposures to toxins over the course of their life, the microbes in engineered water systems, and climate-related extreme weather events—can impact health.

Harvard has hired eight new climate faculty—with more to come—across the University and across disciplines.

Through research originating at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and Harvard Medical School, an international team has discovered a novel strain of cyanobacteria—nicknamed “Chonkus”—that could help sequester carbon from oceans and factories. 

Three Wyss Institute projects aim to reduce global pollution by developing a cheaper, more reliable test to detect toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS); creating a non-toxic alternative to PFAS inspired by the surface of lotus leaves; and using an enzyme found in soil to break down PET plastic and turn it into a biodegradable material that can be used to make new, eco-friendly plastics.

The Climate and Sustainability Translational Fund—launched by Harvard’s Office of Technology Development and the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability—will fund four research projects focused on solutions to climate challenges.