Shoshanna Saxe

Background

Dr. Shoshanna Saxe is an Associate Professor in the University of Toronto’s Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering, and Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Sustainable Infrastructure.  She investigates the relationship between the infrastructure we build and the society we create to identify opportunities – and pathways – to better align infrastructure provision with sustainability. Her research focuses around two main questions: 1) What should we build? and 2) how should we build it?
 
Saxe is a former Action Canada fellow, sits on Waterfront Toronto’s Capital Peer Review Panel and Metrolinx Project Evaluation Advisory Panel. She was awarded the 2019 OPEA Engineering Medal – Young Engineer. Her research and commentary have been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times, The Toronto Star, The Financial Post, and Wired, including “What We Really Need Are Good ‘Dumb’ Cities” (New York Times, July 2019).

Education and Designations

  • Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics from McGill (2007)
  • Master of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering from MIT (2009)
  • PhD from the University of Cambridge in Engineering (2016) (Jesus College)
  • Post Doctoral Fellow, University of Toronto (2016)
  • PEng (Ontario)

Research Interests

Sustainable infrastructure

Construction resource use and embodied GHG

Transit infrastructure

Infrastructure and time

Potential Students

Each year I admit MASc and PhD students for interdisciplinary research investigating civil infrastructure and sustainability. This research calls on methods from construction engineering, construction governance, structural engineering, geotechnics, transport engineering, industrial ecology, land use planning and data analysis. Interested candidates should email a CV, unofficial transcripts, and a brief research proposal (max 1 page). Candidates are strongly encouraged to research advice for effective proposal drafting. A strong introductory email is a great first step towards graduate school admission.

NOTE: Due to a high volume of emails, I only respond to emails that include the requested attachments. 

 

 

Selected Publications

See other publications on Google Scholar

Guven G, Arceo A, Bennett A, et al. (2022) A construction classification system database for understanding resource use in building construction. Scientific Data 9(1). Springer US: 42. DOI: 10.1038/s41597-022-01141-8.

Imani AF, Miller EJ and Saxe S (2019) Cycle Accessibility and Level of Traffic Stress: A Case Study of Toronto. Journal of Transport Geography 80(Octover). DOI: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2019.102496.

Saxe S and Kasraian D (2020) Rethinking environmental LCA life stages for transport infrastructure to facilitate holistic assessment. Journal of Industrial Ecology 24(5): 1031–1046. DOI: 10.1111/jiec.13010.

Saxe S, Miller EJ and Guthrie P (2017) The net greenhouse gas impact of the Sheppard Subway Line. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment 51: 261–275. DOI: 10.1016/j.trd.2017.01.007.

Saxe S, Guven G, Pereira L, et al. (2020) Taxonomy of uncertainty in environmental life cycle assessment of infrastructure projects. Environmental Research Letters 15(8). DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ab85f8.

Zuluaga S, Karney BW and Saxe S (2021) The concept of value in sustainable infrastructure systems: a literature review. Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability 1(2): 022001. DOI: 10.1088/2634-4505/ac0f32.

Nahangi M, Guven G, Olanrewaju B, et al. (2021) Embodied greenhouse gas assessment of a bridge: A comparison of preconstruction Building Information Model and construction records. Journal of Cleaner Production 295. Elsevier Ltd: 126388. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126388.

Saxe S and Kasraian D (2020) Rethinking environmental LCA life stages for transport infrastructure to facilitate holistic assessment. Journal of Industrial Ecology 24(5): 1031–1046. DOI: 10.1111/jiec.13010.

Saxe S and Macaskill K (2019) Toward adaptive infrastructure : the role of existing infrastructure systems Toward adaptive infrastructure : the role of existing infrastructure systems. Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure 00(00). Taylor & Francis: 1–4. DOI: 10.1080/23789689.2019.1681822.

Saxe S, Guven G, Pereira L, et al. (2020) Taxonomy of uncertainty in environmental life cycle assessment of infrastructure projects. Environmental Research Letters 15(8). DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ab85f8.

Teaching

Course CodeTitle & DescriptionSessionDay(s)Start TimeEndSection
CIV100HFallScheduled by the Office of the Faculty Registrar.
CIV1399H
Fall 2019Friday9:0011:000101

News Mentions

Build more, pollute less: New academic-industry partnership to balance infrastructure needs with environmental integrity

U of T Engineering’s newest research centre will develop innovative ways to meet the urgent and growing need for infrastructure — without further exacerbating the climate crisis. The Centre for the Sustainable Built Environment brings together seven researchers from across U of T, as well as a dozen companies in construction and related industries. The […]

CivMin Professor Shoshanna Saxe speaker at Climate Economy Summit

Partnerships between the public and private sectors are crucial to help the Toronto region capitalize on its strong cluster of clean energy companies, University of Toronto President Meric Gertler says. He issued the call for collaboration at the recent Climate Economy Summit, co-hosted by U of T’s Climate Positive Energy initiative and the Toronto Region Board of Trade, which […]

Four CivMin grad students garner CGEN scholarships

Four CivMin graduate students have been awarded scholarships from the Centre for Global Engineering (CGEN). The feat is impressive, as half of the eight scholarships awarded have been granted to MASc and PhD candidates within the Department. A total pool of 40 applicants, representing more than a doubling of applicants since 2018, were reviewed. Our […]

Contact

Shoshanna Saxe
Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering
University of Toronto
35 St. George St.
Toronto, Ontario
Canada, M5S 1A4

 

Office: GB429

s.saxe@utoronto.ca