DPI Climate R&D Hub · University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Research

The Climate R&D Hub at the Discovery Partners Institute has a diverse climate research portfolio, from the physics of city air to the tools that cities, communities and companies use to plan.

  • 10research projects
  • 6public toolkits
  • 60+publications
  • $56M+in research funding the Climate R&D Hub has been part of
The Climate R&D Hub drawn as a tree: roots in climate science and climate modeling, and branches for applied research, policy, resiliency, industry and education, each leading to current projects.
Our Climate R&D Hub tree

Six areas of research

  1. Fundamental research

    How land, atmosphere, oceans and lakes interact to shape urban air flows, boundary layers and urban hydrometeorology, using physics-based models alongside AI, such as graph neural networks that estimate street-level temperature.

  2. Applied research

    Developing and testing adaptation and mitigation strategies that reduce climate risks in complex urban environments.

  3. Environmental resilience

    Giving communities evidence-based measures to improve environmental and health equity.

  4. Policy and translation

    Climate action plans and assessment reports for cities, and working with cities to put sustainable solutions in place.

  5. Education and training

    Training and education that help students, professionals and communities understand climate risks.

  6. Climate extremes and connected systems

    How heat, storms and floods ripple through infrastructure and supply chains.

Explore our work

10 projectsResearch projectsCLEETS, CROCUS, urban heat, storms and floods, clean transportation, trees, green infrastructure and nature-based solutions.Workshops, training and outreachTraining & educationInternational workshops, a climate training curriculum for ComEd, conference sessions and Sky Scouts.

Also see our toolkits, publications and news & events.