2025 Internship Project Overview

This project focused on developing a web-based interface to analyze and visualize the contributions of wildfire-driven fine particulate matter (PM2.5) to air pollution and related health impacts across U.S. counties. As climate change drives more frequent and severe wildfires, smoke has become a major contributor to PM2.5 exceedances, challenging decades of progress in reducing anthropogenic emissions. With the 2024 EPA air quality standard lowering the PM2.5 threshold, it has become increasingly important to separate wildfire pollution from other sources when determining compliance and assigning non-attainment designations. The dashboard integrates county-level PM2.5 measurements, satellite smoke indicators and health impact analyses, presented through interactive choropleth maps, time series, AQI-based charts and source-attribution toggles. By making complex datasets accessible and policy-oriented, the tool enhances researchers’ and policymakers’ ability to evaluate wildfire impacts and guide informed environmental and public health decisions.

 

ORGANIZATION/RESEARCH GROUP

Mauzerall Group, Center for Policy Research on Energy and the Environment (C-PREE), School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University

LOCATION

Princeton, New Jersey

 

Interns

Hassan Khan ’27
Major: Computer Science
Minor(s): Statistics and Machine Learning
"I gained valuable research and collaboration skills, along with technical experience in data analysis, full-stack web programming, and application hosting and deployment. The most interesting part was transforming large datasets into clear, accessible visualizations—I especially enjoyed seeing the results of my code come to life in the dashboard.
This internship influenced me to pursue independent work that combines computer science with data-driven applications in interdisciplinary areas, and to explore career paths where I can build technical tools with real-world impact."

Click to view the end-of-project presentation

 

Denise Mauzerall
William S. Tod Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Public and International Affairs

Mentors

  • Yuanyu Xie, Associate Research Scholar, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs