About the Speaker:

Dr. Ashish Sharma is the Climate and Urban Sustainability Lead at the Discovery Partners Institute, University of Illinois System. He is afaculty member in the Department of Climate, Meteorology &Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois UrbanaChampaign and also holds a joint appointment as a Climate Scientistat Argonne National Laboratory. Dr. Sharma has expertise inatmospheric sciences, focusing on regional climate and air qualityand assessing adaptation and mitigation strategies. Throughcollaborative research across science, engineering, social sciences,and policy, he studies environmental justice issues, including heat,fog, air quality, and high-impact weather. Dr. Sharma has securedfunding of $40M+ as PI or co-PI from diverse agencies, such as theU.S. DOE, NSF, NASA, Walder Foundation, IBM, and ComEdExelon Energy. Dr. Sharma is a fellow of the Royal MeteorologicalSociety. He has briefed the U.S. Senate Climate Taskforce, U.S.House of Representatives, and congressional staff on Capitol Hill onthe impacts of climate change in the Great Lakes Region (2019). Hehas received numerous awards, including the American PlanningAssociation Merit in Sustainability Award (2022) and the Center forClimate and Energy Solutions Climate Leadership Award (2021).