Updates

On Saturday, August 8th, Dr. Whalen and Audrey headed to Plant Chicago's monthly Farmer's Market. Plant Chicago focuses on sustainable food production, which these local markets support. Community members primarily from Chicago's South and West sides showed up and made the Saturday full of smiles! While the pair were there, they spread CLEAR's mission and located additional community sensor hosts. 

On August 1st, Audrey and Dr. Whalen joined the Respiratory Health Association for the kickoff of their final CowaLUNGa bike tour! Every year, the event fundraises for healthy lungs and clean air for all. The morning was full of joyous smiles and good conversations. Thanks to the RHA, the pair were able to spread our message for better air quality and targeted monitoring. 

Dr. Whalen, Dr. Jing, and Dr. Tran have produced new models as they have been developing another paper to be published. The models estimate where new sensors should be located depending on the measurement - the red dots are where new sensors are needed and the black dots are where current sensors are (first image). The first image visualizes the association between average weather patterns and air pollution. During the average summer, the south and southwest sides of Chicago are associated with higher PM 2.5 levels. Additionally, the trends align with the Health Burden Index (second image). During the worst 10 days of summer, central areas are associated with higher PM 2.5 levels and higher health burdens are present for areas with increased levels of childhood and adult asthma, COPD, and severe maternal morbidity hospitalizations. On the second page, the Health Burden Index (HBI) is visible. The trends within the HBI align with areas overburdened with air pollution and inadequate healthcare. 

On March 25, Audrey joined Respiratory Health Association for their annual Advocacy Day. Audrey spent the entire day on Capital Hill in Springfield lobbying legislators to support environmental legislation. Specific laws that she advocated for were the Warehouse Pollution Reduction Act, Zero Emissions Vehicle Act, and the Power Act. Audrey formed valuable connections with legislators, members of the RHA, and valuable community members. 

Just two months ago, Mena Whalen, Ping Jing, Margaret Gonzalez, Pranati Mitta, and Nora Lee Reinhardt attended the 2025 NASA HAQAST (Health and Air Quality Applied Sciences Team) Meeting in St. Louis, MO. They met with fellow researchers, students, and community leaders to find solutions to healthier, cleaner futures. There, the team presented a poster on CLEAR's current and future work to fellow researchers, students, and community leaders. 

In December, CLEAR worked alongside Loyola's Campus Ministry to create lunches for homeless shelters around the city. In just a couple hours, the team created over 120 bagged lunches. Events such as this allow our team to get involved with other organizations around campus, while fostering community within our lab. We are always seeking opportunities to engage with our Chicago community to create positive change.