SDGs@U of T Student Award
Sara Torbatian, a CivMin PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Marianne Hatzopoulou has been awarded funding towards their Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) research.
Under the SDGs at U of T initiative Torbatian was selected as a recipient of the SDGs@UofT Student Award. This award recognizes her commitment to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through innovative and impactful research. The announcement declares, “The proposal stood out for its alignment with SDGs@UofT’s research themes and your demonstrated excellence in your chosen field. Your dedication to addressing critical global challenges reflects the high standards of research excellence we aim to foster within our community.”
A one-time financial award supports their research over a 12-month period. The funding is intended to enable the pursuit of research goals and contribute to meaningful solutions aligning with the SDGs.
The majority of Torbatian’s research interests are focused on developing air quality modelling capabilities to assess the impacts of emission reduction policies on the transportation sector. Her particular interest lies in greening goods movement and understanding the implications of decarbonization scenarios targeting diesel-fuelled vehicles for air quality, health, and environmental justice.
One of her research studies (https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.3c08867) explores the potential co-benefits associated with truck electrification, one important pathway toward decarbonization of freight. In this study, a detailed assessment of freight electrification scenarios (including light, medium, and heavy-duty trucks) was conducted from different perspectives, using the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) as a testbed.