Institute for Global Sustainability Announces 2026 Graduate Student Summer Fellows

Eleven Boston University graduate students from the College of Engineering, Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, Questrom School of Business, and the School of Public Health comprise the new cohort. 

By Alison Gold

The Boston University Institute for Global Sustainability (IGS) has announced its 2026 Graduate Student Summer Fellows.

The annual Summer Fellows program convenes an interdisciplinary cohort of graduate students from across BU pursuing independent sustainability research projects. Each fellow receives a financial stipend and weekly opportunities for faculty engagement, mentoring, and professional development. Numerous fellows have later published their findings in academic journals. 

This year’s cohort includes 11 students, the largest group in the program’s five-year history, representing five schools and colleges.

Explore their projects below.

College of Engineering

Alexander Rocca (MS student, Mechanical Engineering)

• Faculty Advisor: Sean Lubner (Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering; IGS Core Faculty)
• Project Title: “Investigating Thermal Transport in Metal–Organic Framework – Polymer Composites to Improve Direct Air Capture of Carbon Dioxide Efficiency.“

Jiguang Yu (PhD student, Systems Engineering)

• Faculty Advisor: David Starobinski (Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering) 
• Project Title: “Spectrum Fairness: A New Game-Theoretic Framework for Active-Passive Dynamic Spectrum Sharing.”

Lizzy Yue (PhD student, Computer Engineering)

• Faculty Advisor: Ayșe Coskun (Professor (ECE, SE Affiliate); Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development, Director, Center for Information and Systems Engineering; IGS Core Faculty)
• Project Title: “Power Optimization in Large Language Model Inference Serving.“

Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences

Xinyi Hu (PhD student, Computing & Data Sciences)

• Faculty Advisor: Aldo Pacchiano (Assistant Professor, Computing & Data Sciences)
• Project Title: “Smart and Sustainable Buildings through Data-Efficient Reinforcement Learning.“

Graduate School of Arts & Sciences

Sheida Hooshmandi (PhD student, Earth & Environment)

• Faculty Advisor: Benjamin Sovacool (Professor, Earth & Environment, College of Arts & Sciences; IGS Director) 
• Project Title: “Delivering Climate Justice to Global South: From Climate Adaptation Aid to Loss & Damage Compensation.“

Dorsa Mohammadi (PhD student, Earth & Environment)

• Faculty Advisor: Andrew Bell (Assistant Professor, Earth & Environment, College of Arts & Sciences)
• Project Title: “Crop-Specific Flood Damage and Recovery Mapping for Equitable Climate Resilience.”

Seongje Park (PhD student, Chemistry)

• Faculty Advisor: Minjung Son (Assistant Professor, Chemistry, College of Arts & Sciences)
• Project Title: “Characterizing Ultrafast Photophysics of β-Carotene under Strong Light-Matter Coupling.“

Questrom School of Business

Jena Santi (PhD student, Accounting)

• Faculty Advisor: Edward Riedl (John F. Smith Professor of Management, and Professor of Accounting, Questrom School of Business; IGS Associate Director) 
• Project Title: “The ESG Engagement Gap: When Political Pressure Reshapes the Talk but Not the Walk,“

School of Public Health

Grace Betts (PhD student, Environmental Health)

• Faculty Advisor: Patricia Fabian (Professor, Environmental Health, School of Public Health; IGS Associate Director)
• Project Title: “Comparing Heat Decarbonization Scenarios for the City of Boston: Analyzing Impacts on Energy Demand, Cost, and Energy Justice.“

Sharon Casey (PhD student, Epidemiology)

• Faculty Advisor: Samantha Parker Kelleher (Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health)
• Project Title: “Exposure to High Ambient Temperatures and Risk of Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy.“

Feven Lencha (MPH candidate, Epidemiology and Biostatistics with a focus on Global Health)

• Faculty Advisor: Jennifer Beard (Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Global Health at Boston University School of Public Health)
• Project Title: “Energy Poverty, Household Biomass Fuel Use, and Respiratory Health in Ethiopia: Implications for Planetary Health and Sustainable Energy Transitions.”

View all posts