Leading on Climate
Cindy Tan
Bonnie Reiss CNI Fellow Class of 2022
Graduate Student, Atmospheric Chemistry
UC San Diego
Project
Air quality and heat reduction impacts of tree species selection in Urban Greening Projects
Project Description
The implementation of urban greening projects brings various ecological benefits to the community including carbon dioxide sequestration, air pollutant removal, and cooling effects from increased tree canopy. Cindy seeks to assess the climate effects of urban greening projects on air quality improvement and urban heat island mitigation by estimating the associated temperature reduction based on current tree canopy data from UCSD and San Diego county urban forestry programs. Additionally, Cindy will study the importance of tree species selection based on their potential to uptake air pollutants, as well as their rate of biogenic volatile organic compound formation that could in turn produce ozone and secondary pollutants. The goal of Cindy’s project is to highlight the social equity considerations of green infrastructure placement in cities to mitigate the climate and health effects of air pollution and urban heat islands.