Seongwon Im, PhD

• Ph.D., Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
• M.S., Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
• B.S., St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY

View CV

Research interests

• Bayesian nonparametric modeling
• Distributed lag model for mixture exposures
• Public health applications, with a focus on air pollution

Publications

• Im S, Wilson A, and Mork D. 2025. Structured Bayesian Regression Tree Models for Estimating Distributed Lag Effects: The R Package dlmtree. arXiv preprint, arXiv:2504.18452. doi:10.48550/arXiv.2504.18452
• Weller ZD, Im S, Palacios V, Stuchiner E, von Fischer JC. 2022. Environmental Injustices of Leaks from Urban Natural Gas Distribution Systems: Patterns among and within 13 U.S. Metro Areas. Environmental Science & Technology, 56(12):8599–8609. doi:10.1021/acs.est.2c00097

R package: dlmtree

• Designed Bayesian tree model for distributed lag effects
• Implemented efficient MCMC posterior sampler
• Incorporated mixture exposures, heterogeneity, non-linear exposure-time-response effects

Bayesian Inference MCMC Rcpp Git Package Development ggplot2 Shiny

Spatial Analysis of Urban Natural Gas Leaks and Environmental Injustice

• Analyzed disparities in gas leak densities across 13 U.S. cities using crowd-sourced methane measurements and census data
• Identified significant associations between leak prevalence and sociodemographic indicators such as race, ethnicity, and income
• Highlighted systemic environmental injustice in infrastructure quality, informing equitable policy reform in utility maintenance

Bayesian Inference Spatial RStan ggplot2 Collaboration

Classes taught

• STAT 201 - General Statistics
• STAT 301 - Introduction to Statistical Methods
• STAR 511 - Design and Data Analysis for Researchers I: R Software (Tutored)

Workshops held

• R Basics
• Tidy Data in R: Tidyverse
• Python: Working with data

Invited & Oral Presentations

• Oral presentation, “Treed distributed lag mixture model with zero-inflated count data to investigate the association between air pollution and pregnancy loss”
  Joint Statistical Meetings, American Statistical Association, Toronto, Ontario, Canada – August 2023
• Oral presentation (virtual), “Environmental justice of natural gas leaks”
  Colorado and Wyoming Chapter, American Statistical Association – October 2021
• Oral presentation (virtual), “Environmental justice of natural gas leaks”
  Joint Statistical Meetings, American Statistical Association – August 2021
• Oral presentation (virtual), “Environmental justice of natural gas leaks”
  Front Range Student Ecology Symposium, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado – March 2021

Posters & Contributed Talks

• Poster presentation, “Treed distributed lag mixture model with zero-inflated count data to investigate the association between air pollution and pregnancy loss”
  Graduate Student Showcase, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado – November 2023
• Poster presentation, “Treed distributed lag mixture model with zero-inflated count data to investigate the association between air pollution and pregnancy loss”
  EnviBayes Workshop, International Society for Bayesian Analysis, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado – September 2023
• Poster presentation, “Treed distributed lag mixture model with zero-inflated count data to investigate the association between air pollution and pregnancy loss”
  Graduate Student Showcase, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado – November 2022