Hello everyone, my name is Shuyue Qu, I’m from Northeast China. After spending several years working with rocks and earning a Bachelor’s degree in Geology and a Master’s degree in Structural Geology from Jilin University, China, I felt that the connection between rocks and life was gradually fading. So I decided to pursue a second Master’s degree in Integrated Climate System Sciences at the University of Hamburg in Germany, where I am learning various aspects of climate science, including physics, biochemistry, socioeconomics, and programming knowledge.
With the generous support from Northwestern University and the University of Hamburg, and the supportive mentors Daniel Horton and Jana Sillmann, I became the first jointly trained master’s exchange student between universities. In the summer of 2024, I joined Northwestern University as a visiting scholar at the McCormick School of Engineering, where I conduct research with the guidance of Prof. Horton in the intersection of climate science and public health.
Currently, I am assisting Northwestern’s Defusing Disaster Working Group, contributing to the analysis and study of the Heat Vulnerability Index (HVI) at census tracts level in Chicago. At the same time, I am a master’s student in the Integrated Climate System Sciences program at the University of Hamburg in Germany, working on my thesis under the collaboration framework between the two universities and actively participating in the Climate Change Research Group (CCRG)’s meetings and discussions.
My advisors are Prof. Daniel Horton from Northwestern and Prof. Sillmann from the Hamburg, and my research focuses on using machine learning algorithms to analyze and compare the impacts of extreme heat events and air pollution on public health in Chicago and Hamburg, with a particular emphasis on evaluating how these environmental factors affect mortality and disease burdens. By modeling mortality and disease data, I hope to explore strategies to mitigate the health risks posed to vulnerable populations by environmental factors, providing scientific support for public health interventions. I’m open to any academic suggestions you may have!
If you see me on the street, please remind me to get back to work :) Hope you have a wonderful day!
