PI spotlight: Jane Lin

Jane Lin got involved with ICT after responding to a RFP to organize a mobile source air toxics peer exchange meeting back in 2006. Since then, she has served as an investigator for two other ICT projects.

Lin’s current ICT project aims to quantify the particulate matter pollution levels from local transportation sources that may be a project of air quality concern due to, for example, high diesel truck traffic volume. She explains, “The research results will provide tremendous insight to state-wide transportation conformity project level particulate matter (PM) hot-spot modeling and quantitative analysis. It will also assist PM hot-spot analyses and reporting in IDOT’s National Environmental Policy Act documents prepared for IDOT projects. The resulting approved average daily traffic and percent diesel trucks thresholds will provide IDOT with specific level(s) to prescreen ‘projects of air quality concern’ and thus reduce the work required by district staff to obtain and present project specific traffic data. PM pollutants have been shown to have health impact. Therefore, the research results will have important implications to protecting human health and the environment.”

During her time working with ICT, Lin says she has enjoyed seeing the center grow and create a transparent and coordinated relationship between IDOT and the researchers while also increasing the visibility of IDOT, ICT, and her research group.

Lin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Materials Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). She is also a Research Associate Professor at the Institute of Environmental Science and Policy at UIC. She has degrees from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China (B.S) and University of California – Davis (M.S. and PhD). She served as a post-doc at Harvard University before joining the faculty at UIC. When she is not teaching or conducting environmental research, Lin enjoys reading, movies, and traveling.