About Hugh Li

Hugh Li

Canadian Methane Scientist

Contact

Washington, D.C. Office

Work

Areas of expertise:

Climate and energy

I study methane emissions from Canada’s oil and gas fields via aerial platforms. We survey representative production regions across multiple years to track emission changes and assess methane policy performance. By comparing the top-down measurements and bottom-up inventories, we aim to bridge the gap and provide recommendations on improving inventory reporting and scientific input for the government’s methane regulation review.

Background

I received my Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. My Ph.D. thesis was about characterizing spatial and temporal variations of airborne gas and particle pollutants. After my Ph.D., I became an ORISE postdoc working on natural gas gathering pipeline leak rate estimates and volatile organic compounds (VOC) from oil and gas development at National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). Before joining EDF, I worked as a research scientist at Harrisburg University, focusing on methane emissions from natural gas compressor stations in NY and in situ leak detection and quantification (LDAR) technology assessment. I am a member of the American Geophysical Union.

Publications

Li HZ, Mundia-Howe M, Reeder MD, Pekney NJ. “Constraining Natural Gas Pipeline Emissions in San Juan Shale Using Mobile Sampling.” Sci. Total Environ. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142490

Li HZ, Reeder MD, Pekney NJ. “Quantifying Source Contributions of Volatile Organic Compounds under Hydraulic Fracking Moratorium.” Sci. Total Environ. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139322

Ye Q*, Li HZ*, Gu P, Robinson ES, Apte JS, Sullivan RC, Robinson AL, Donahue NM, Presto AA. “Moving Beyond Fine Particle Mass: High-spatial Resolution Exposure to Source-resolved Atmospheric Particle Number and Chemical Mixing State.” Environ. Health Perspect. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP5311

*equal contribution

Li HZ, Reeder MD, Litten J, Pekney NJ. “Identifying Under-characterized Atmospheric Methane Emission Sources in Western Maryland.” Atmos. Environ. 2019, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2019.117053

Li HZ, Gu P, Ye Q, Zimmerman N, Robinson ES, Subramanian R, Apte JS, Robinson AL, Presto AA. “Spatially Dense Air Pollutant Sampling: Implications of Spatial Variability on the Representativeness of Stationary Air Pollutant Monitors.” Atmos. Environ. 2019, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aeaoa.2019.100012

Li HZ, Dallmann TR, Li X, Gu P, Presto AA. “Urban Organic Aerosol Exposure: Spatial Variations in Composition and Source Impacts.” Environ. Sci. Technol. 2017, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b03674

Li HZ, Dallmann TR, Gu P, Presto AA. “Application of Mobile Sampling to Investigate Spatial Variation in Fine Particle Composition.” Atmos. Environ. 2016, 142, 71–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2016.07.042

For full list, please see my Google Scholar page.