Lotte Mohren - Environmental Engineering
I hope to learn more about how environmental issues can be tackled and to gain a better understanding of how current air pollution and dispersion modelling approaches can be applied.
Why did you choose this programme?
I chose the Environmental Engineering Master’s, Atmospheric Engineering track, because I wanted to better understand the main sources of air pollution and how air pollutants are transported and transformed in the air. I find the classes on modelling wind and pollutant transport particularly interesting because it helps me understand how predictions on air pollution can be made and how to determine which measures can most effectively reduce environmental effects.
What are you currently working on?
I'm currently working on a group project that looks at neighbourhoods in Rotterdam and the correlation between exposure to air pollution, heat stress, and socio-economic parameters. The aim of the project is to analyse whether, and to what extent, different groups in society are unequally affected by environmental problems depending on their income, employment status or nationality. To do this, we are performing a regression analysis and modelling particulate matter dispersion and heat stress. The latter will help us understand how the structure of the city affects the transport of air pollutants and heat storage. In order to find suitable measures that could improve air quality and reduce heat stress, we plan to model scenarios where different mitigation measures are implemented. The project is part of the Grand Challenges of Atmospheric Engineering, a special course in this track, for which the topic can be freely chosen.
What’s a highlight of the program for you?
I like the variety of different courses we have and the flexibility to choose projects relating to the topics I’m most interested in. Because it is a comparably small program it’s also possible to get individual feedback and ask questions directly.
What do you hope to achieve?
I hope to learn more about how environmental issues can be tackled and to gain a better understanding of how current air pollution and dispersion modelling approaches can be applied. Especially for urban environments with multiple emission sources, it is important to know the strengths and weaknesses of the applied model in order to obtain reasonable results. I also hope to be able to link environmental issues to social issues and learn more about environmental inequalities.