16-year-old uses AI to map pollution and drive countywide policy change

Kelly LiuPhoto credit: www.actionfornature.org When Kelly Liu looked at air pollution data around San Jose, she noticed something important was missing. Official monitoring stations could show broad regional trends, but they did not always reveal what students were breathing beside busy roads, industrial areas or older school buildings. The 16-year-old student decided to fill that gap by combining artificial intelligence, low-cost pollution sensors and community organising. Her work mapped local air quality, brought monitoring devices to underserved schools and helped build pressure for stronger countywide action. As described by Action for Nature and reported by Hoodline, Kelly’s project grew from a technical experiment into a public campaign, showing how student-led research can make environmental inequality visible and influence policy. Her story is not just about measuring dirty air. It is about giving communities evidence they can use to demand healthier places to learn.Seeing what broad data missesAir pollution rarely affects every neighbourhood in the same way. Two schools only a few miles apart may face very different conditions depending on their proximity to highways, war...