Welcome to the Sustainable URban Futures (SURF) Lab in the School of Meteorology and the Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability at the University of Oklahoma.
Global cities in a changing climate face escalating environmental challenges, including intensified heat stress, more frequent air pollution episodes, shifting precipitation patterns, and rising demands for energy and resources. Dr. Chenghao Wang and the SURF Lab investigate the mechanisms of urban environments, their interactions with regional and global climate systems, and their interconnected impacts on energy use, emissions, and planetary health. Using both advanced physics-based numerical models and data-driven analytical approaches, our work emphasizes the characterization of environmental stressors and hazards as well as the design and assessment of mitigation and adaptation strategies.
Through our interdisciplinary research, we aim to advance fundamental understanding of the complex urban systems and support the development of more sustainable and resilient cities under global environmental change. Some key research questions that motivate our work include:
- In what ways do urban environments amplify or dampen regional and global climate and weather impacts?
- What effects do urban heat mitigation strategies have on hydrometeorological conditions across scales?
- How will urban systems, including both infrastructure and people, be affected by and adapt to changing climate and weather extremes?
- What roles do inter- and intra-city interactions play in shaping the spread and influence of environmental stressors and extremes?
JOIN US
If you are interested in joining us as a graduate student (PhD or MS), please contact Dr. Chenghao Wang at chenghao.wang@ou.edu and attach: 1) a CV; 2) a brief statement describing your interests (and relevant skills/experience when applicable); 3) unofficial academic transcripts and TOEFL/IELTS/PET transcripts (when applicable).
If you are interested in joining as a postdoctoral researcher in the general field of urban climate, please contact Dr. Wang directly.
We also welcome (visiting) undergraduate and graduate students who are willing to work on short- or long-term research projects in our lab. If you are interested, please reach out to Dr. Wang at any time.
More information about the University of Oklahoma (OU), the School of Meteorology (SOM), the Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability (DGES), and degree programs:
- University of Oklahoma
- School of Meteorology
- Geography & Environmental Sustainability
- School of Meteorology Graduate Programs
- Geography & Environmental Sustainability Graduate Programs
GALLERY
