E&ES doctoral student is selected for NASA fellowship
the accuracy of fire emission estimation
Boston College Earth and Environmental Sciences graduate student Xinyi (Skylar) Yang has been awarded a three-year, $150,000 fellowship by NASA to support her doctoral studies through the Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) program.
E&ES graduate student Xinyi (Skylar) Yang.
鈥淚 am deeply honored to receive this award and NASA鈥檚 support for my doctoral research,鈥� Yang said. 鈥淭his recognition affirms the importance of my work while also highlighting the excellence of our graduate program and research team at Boston College. Knowing that NASA values these efforts inspires me to push further and continue contributing to a better understanding of our changing planet.鈥�
Yang鈥檚 proposal was among approximately 1,485 submitted, including 539 in the Earth Science Division, from which only 54 projects were selected for funding. Her graduate project, which will be developed into her doctoral thesis, is titled 鈥淭oward Accurate Fire Emission Estimation: Integrating NASA Satellite and Reanalysis Data with Machine Learning into a Terrestrial Biosphere Model.鈥�
鈥淔ires release greenhouse gases, smoke, and tiny particles that affect both the climate and human health,鈥� Yang explained. 鈥淏ut current estimates of these emissions are often uncertain, because it鈥檚 hard to know exactly how much vegetation burns during each fire event. In many cases, these estimates come from fixed tables that don鈥檛 capture real-world variation, especially as climate change alters fire behavior.鈥�
Her doctoral research combines field data, NASA satellite observations, climate data, and machine learning to replace these fixed values with more dynamic and accurate estimates of burned vegetation, she said, and then applies them in a terrestrial ecosystem model to provide a clearer picture of fire emissions and their role in our changing world.
Yang works under the supervision of climate scientist Professor Hanqin Tian, who has a joint appointment in E&ES and the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society.
鈥淭his is an exceptionally competitive and prestigious achievement,鈥� said Schiller Institute Seidner Family Executive Director Laura J. Steinberg. 鈥淭his is a strong testament to the excellence of our [E&ES] Ph.D. graduate program, the Schiller Institute, and the quality of Dr. Tian鈥檚 mentorship.鈥澨�
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