Cynthia Zeng — Machine Learning for a Changing Climate: Forecast, Risk, Adapt
The Center for Urban Science + Progress (CUSP) and the Department of Technology Management and Innovation at NYU Tandon welcome you to attend the lecture "Machine Learning for a Changing Climate: Forecast, Risk, Adapt" by Cynthia Zeng, assistant professor at the NYU Stern School of Business in Abu Dhabi, as part of the Spring 2025 Urban Science Research Seminar Series.
About the Lecture
Machine Learning for a Changing Climate: Forecast, Risk, Adapt
Climate change is intensifying the frequency and severity of natural disasters across the globe, making societal adaptation an urgent priority. In this talk, I present two key avenues where machine learning can play a transformative role in addressing climate adaptation challenges.
The first part introduces a multimodal machine learning framework designed for natural disaster prediction. This flexible framework integrates diverse data types—such as images, text, and tabular data—enabling predictions across both short-term and long-term timeframes. For instance, in 24-hour hurricane forecasting, we show that ML models can improve the National Hurricane Center's current forecasts. Accurate long-term ML-driven risk assessments have profound implications for urban planning, infrastructure investments, and insurance policies, helping to shape more resilient societies.
In the second part, I explore how ML-predicted risks can be integrated into catastrophe insurance pricing through Robust Optimization. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach using data from the US National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), showcasing its potential to improve pricing accuracy and risk management. This talk aims to open a broader conversation about the applications of machine learning in tackling global climate challenges, and how we can collaboratively leverage these technologies for a more sustainable future.
About the Speaker
Cynthia Zeng is an Assistant Professor at the NYU Stern School of Business in Abu Dhabi, where her research focuses on addressing the challenges of climate adaptation and promoting sustainable development through technological innovation. Her work primarily involves developing artificial intelligence solutions to forecast and manage extreme weather events. Cynthia completed her PhD in Operations Research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with her dissertation titled “Multimodal Machine Learning for Climate Adaptation.” She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Imperial College London. In addition to her academic pursuits, she gained valuable industry experience as a quantitative analyst at BlackRock in San Francisco and London, and at the SoftBank Vision Fund in Shanghai.
Cynthia has published in several leading academic journals, including AMS Weather and Forecasting, Nature Digital Medicine, and Healthcare Management Science. Her collaborative work with OCP Group, the world’s largest phosphate producer, has been successfully implemented to achieve a 50% reduction in air pollution from industrial activities in Morocco. She has received numerous awards, including the William Pierskalla Paper Award, the MIT Future of Computing Prize, and the INFORMS Doing Good with Good OR Prize.
Cynthia is also deeply committed to public engagement, having presented her research on platforms such as TEDx and MIT Horizon. She is a frequent speaker at prominent academic and professional venues, including the Stanford Energy Seminar and the Stanford Trans-Pacific Sustainability Dialogue.
Visitor Information
This event will take place in Room 1201 on the 12th floor of 370 Jay St. Please visit the NYU Tandon website for directions and a campus map. Advance registration through Eventbrite is required for campus access at NYU for external guests.
About the Urban Science Research Seminar Series
The Center for Urban Science + Progress’s annual Research Seminar series features leading voices in the growing field of urban informatics examining real-world challenges facing cities and urban environments around the world. The Spring 2025 series is organized by Assistant Professors Takahiro Yabe, Qi Sun, and Graham Dove.