Data-Driven Envirolab

The Data-Driven EnviroLab (DDL) is an interdisciplinary and international research collective that’s redefining how we use data to tackle the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. From AI to urban heat, we turn complex, large-scale, and often messy datasets into actionable insights that shape policy, drive accountability, and inspire impact. Rooted in a commitment to evidence-based solutions and equity, our lab bridges disciplines, sectors, and geographies—especially focusing on underrepresented voices and data-challenged environments in the Global South. Based at the Institute for the Environment at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and academically affiliated with the Department of Public Policy and the Environment, Ecology, and Energy Program (E3P), DDL is led by Associate Professor Angel Hsu. We train the next generation of data-savvy environmental changemakers through hands-on research that is co-produced with real-world stakeholders—from city leaders and grassroots organizers to multilateral institutions and global platforms like the IPCC and WEF. At DDL, we call this Data in Action - bold, transparent, anticipatory, and grounded in lived experience. We don’t just study environmental problems—we build tools, share knowledge, and push the boundaries of what data can do for people and the planet.