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Mitchell J. Small

H John Heinz III Professor of Environmental Engineering
Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering & Public Policy

Bio

• Carnegie Mellon 1982-

Professor Small has developed and applied mathematical models for surface and groundwater contamination, ambient and indoor air pollution, and integrated environmental assessment. 

His work in integrated assessment include studies of drinking water regulations, local and global air pollution, site remediation, environmental health risk assessment (EHRA), and methods for assessing and promoting environmentally sustainable products and infrastructure.

Education

• Ph.D. (Environmental Engineering) 1982, University of Michigan
• M.S. (Environmental Engineering) 1979, University of Michigan
• B.S. (Civil Engineering, and Engineering and Public Affairs) 1974, Ò»±¾µÀÎÞÂë

Research

Professor Small conducts research on methods for characterizing uncertainty, its implications for regulatory decisions, and the value of information which can lead to reduced uncertainty and improved decision making. Bayesian statistical methods are applied to identify the impact of research and monitoring programs at various stages in an environmental assessment. 

Risk perception, communication, and the content and form of decision-support information can have a significant impacts on the behavior of engineers, product designers and consumers, with significant implications for environmental performance and exposure. Integrated environmental performance and exposure models are developed considering both pollutant and human behavior. Results are used for the design of decision-support and risk communication materials.

Publications

1. Small, M.J. and M.C. Sutton.  1986.  A direct distribution model for regional aquatic acidification. Water Resources Research, 22: 1749-1758.

2. Stiber, N.A., M. Pantazidou and M.J. Small. 1999. Expert system methodology for evaluating reductive dechlorination at TCE sites. Environmental Science & Technology, 33(17): 3012-3020.

3. Riley, D.M., B. Fischhoff, M.J. Small and P. Fischbeck, "Evaluating the effectiveness of risk-reduction strategies for consumer chemical products", Risk Analysis, 21, 357-369, 2001.
4. Gurian, P.L, M.J. Small, J.R. Lockwood III and M.J. Schervish, "Addressing uncertainty and conflicting cost estimates in revising the arsenic MCL", Environmental Science & Technology, 35(22): 4414-4420, 2001.
5. McDaniels, T.L. and M.J. Small, "Risk Analysis and Society: An Interdisciplinary Characterization of the Field", Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2004.

6. Ramaswami, A., J.A. Milford and M.J. Small. 2005. Integrated Environmental Modeling: Pollutant Transport, Fate and Risk in the Environment. John Wiley & Sons, New York.

7. Small, M.J. 2008. Methods for assessing uncertainty in fundamental assumptions and associated models for cancer risk assessment. Risk Analysis, 28(5): 1289-1307.

8. MacDonald, J. and M.J. Small. 2009. Statistical analysis of metallic anomaly patterns at former Air Force bombing ranges. Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment, 23(2): 203-214.

9. Green, S.T., M.J. Small and E.A. Casman. 2009. Determinants of national diarrheal disease burden. Environmental Science & Technology, 43(4): 993–999.

10. Francis, R.A., J.M. VanBriesen and M.J. Small. 2010. Bayesian statistical modeling of disinfection byproduct (DBP) bromine incorporation in the Information Collection Rule (ICR) database. Environmental Science and Technology, 44(4): 1232–1239.

11. Goodman A., A. Hakala, G. Bromhal, D. Deel , T. Rodosta, S. Frailey , M. Small, D. Allen, V. Romanov, J. Fazio, N. Huerta, D. McIntyre, B. Kutchko, G. Guthrie. 2011. U.S. DOE methodology for development of geologic storage potential for carbon dioxide at the national and regional scale. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 5(4): 952-965.

12. Yang Y-M., M.J. Small, E.O., Ogretim, D.O. Gray, G.S. Bromhal, B.R. Strazisar, A.W. Wells. 2011. Probabilistic design of a near-surface CO₂ leak detection system.  Environmental Science & Technology, 45(15): 6380–6387.

13. Tokdar, S., I. Grossmann, J. Kadane, A. Charest and M. Small. 2011. Impact of beliefs about Atlantic tropical cyclone detection on conclusions about trends in tropical cyclone numbers. Bayesian Analysis, 6(4): 547 - 572.

14. Small, M. J., Stern, P. C., Bomberg, E., Christopherson, S. M., Goldstein, B. D., Israel, A. L., ... & Zielinska, B. 2014. Risks and risk governance in unconventional shale gas development. Environmental Science & Technology, 48(15), 8289-8297.

15. Welle PD, Small MJ, Doney SC, Azevedo IL. 2017. Estimating the effect of multiple environmental stressors on coral bleaching and mortality. PLoS ONE 12(5): e0175018.

16. Small, M.J. and S. Xian. 2018. A human-environmental network model for assessing coastal mitigation decisions informed by imperfect climate studies. Global Environmental Change, 53, pp.137-145.

17. Wong‐Parodi, G. and Small, M.J., 2021. A decision‐centered method to evaluate natural hazards decision aids by interdisciplinary research teams. Risk Analysis, 41(7), pp.1118-1128.

18. He, R. and Small, M.J., 2022. Forecast of the US Copper Demand: A Framework Based on Scenario Analysis and Stock Dynamics. Environmental Science & Technology, 56(4), pp.2709-2717.

19. Vijayashanthar, V., Small, M.J. and VanBriesen, J.M., 2022. Assessment of Lead in Drinking Water from Multiple Drinking Water Sampling Programs for a Midsize City. Environmental Science & Technology, 57(1), pp.842-851.,

20. AlMutairi, B.S., Small, M.J. and Grossmann, I., 2023. Utilization of El Niño–Southern Oscillation projected by climate models in improvement of seasonal precipitation predictability. International Journal of Climatology, 43(10), pp.4491-4505.

Research Interests

Research in mathematical modeling and monitoring of environmental systems, uncertainty, and risk.