M. Patricia Fabian

Patricia Fabian, an Associate Director with the Boston University Institute for Global Sustainability (IGS), is a Professor of Environmental Health at the School of Public Health. She founded the Sustainable Built Environment Lab, which conducts research on extreme heat resilience in cities, indoor air quality in schools and homes, and energy transitions in the built environment.

Current projects include:

• CATCH, making the health impacts of extreme heat visible in frontline communities
• C-HEAT, building the capacity for Chelsea Creek communities to respond to extreme heat events
• Sustainable Schools, using data-driven, community-engaged research to promote healthy indoor air quality, sustainability, and climate resilience in Boston Public Schools
• B-COOL, informing a more equitable approach to how heat emergencies are declared in Boston and how heat relief and cooling resources are allocated
• CELT, advancing an equitable energy transition in Massachusetts, empowering communities, and training the next generation of climate leaders.

Dr. Fabian’s research teams are highly interdisciplinary. Her research group has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles, and her expert opinion is often sought by members of the media. Dr. Fabian was a Steering Committee member for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs on the 80×50 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Study and currently serves on the Massachusetts Climate Science Advisory Panel. She is a faculty affiliate of the BUSPH Center for Climate and Health, BU URBAN, and the BU Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science & Engineering.

Pronouns: she/her/ella