Dorothy Lsoto

Background & Expertise

Dorothy Lsoto is an interdisciplinary environmental and climate scientist specializing in air quality, environmental justice, energy and public health. She recently completed her PhD in environment and resources at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, where she designed and taught coursework on air quality and equity in African cities. Her research examined how colonial city plans, social vulnerability, and structural inequities shape air pollution exposure and health outcomes in Kampala, Uganda. Her work integrates low-cost air quality sensors, spatial modeling, environmental epidemiology, and community-engaged research to make air quality information more accessible and actionable. 

Lsoto has collaborated with government, academic, businesses, and cultural and tribal institutions internationally and in East Africa. Lsoto is a contributing author to Uganda's first National Ambient Air Quality Standards and Regulations, and Kampala's Clean Air Action Plan. She leads Empewo Bwe Bulamu, a community air-quality monitoring initiative, while supporting others. Her broader work focuses on advancing equitable energy transitions, clean cooking, building decarbonization and climate-health solutions, particularly in underserved communities. At IonE, she builds on this expertise in the Midwest Carbon Leadership Project with interests on the co-benefits of carbon mitigation.