News

Stay updated with the latest developments, publications, events, and achievements from IDEF Lab.

March 15, 2025

Award

Dr. Chen receives NSF CAREER Award for Eco-centric AI Research

Dr. Maya Chen has been awarded the prestigious NSF CAREER Award for her research on eco-centric artificial intelligence. The five-year grant will support groundbreaking work exploring how AI systems can be designed to prioritize environmental sustainability while maintaining human usability.

March 1, 2025

Conference

IDEF Lab presents three papers at CHI 2025

Our lab will present three full papers at CHI 2025 in Yokohama, Japan. The papers cover topics including environmental sensing (BioSense), sustainable behavior change (GreenMind), and AI-mediated interspecies communication (EcoVoice). Congratulations to all authors!

February 15, 2025

Collaboration

New partnership with Environmental Science Institute

IDEF Lab is excited to announce a new interdisciplinary collaboration with the Environmental Science Institute. Together, we will study human-AI-nature relationships and develop new tools for ecosystem monitoring and restoration.

January 20, 2025

Publication

New paper accepted to IJHCS

Our systematic review paper "Towards Eco-centric Interaction Design" has been accepted to the International Journal of Human-Computer Studies. The paper provides a comprehensive framework for designing technology that centers ecological well-being.

December 10, 2024

Event

IDEF Lab hosts Sustainable HCI Workshop

We hosted a two-day workshop bringing together researchers, designers, and practitioners to discuss the future of sustainable human-computer interaction. Over 50 participants from 15 institutions attended the event.

November 5, 2024

Award

Best Paper Award at UbiComp 2024

Our paper on NatureNet, a distributed sensing system for urban biodiversity monitoring, received the Best Paper Award at UbiComp 2024. Congratulations to Wei Zhang and the entire team!

October 1, 2024

People

Welcome new lab members

We are thrilled to welcome Yuna Kim and Samuel Lee as new Ph.D. students, and Emma Johnson and Carlos Rivera as M.S. students. Their diverse backgrounds in AI, design, and environmental science will strengthen our research.

September 15, 2024

Grant

New funding from Environmental Foundation

IDEF Lab has received a $500,000 grant from the Environmental Foundation to support our research on regenerative computing and AI for ecosystem restoration.

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