About Us

Who We Are

Clean Air Liberia is a PM2.5 monitoring and open-data initiative for Greater Monrovia, launched with EPIC Air Quality Fund support and implemented by the Kigali Collaborative Research Center alongside United Methodist University in Liberia.

What Drives Us

Our Mission

To reduce air pollution across Liberia through monitoring, education, and advocacy — protecting the health of every community.

Our Vision

A Liberia where every person breathes clean, healthy air and where air quality data drives government policy and public action.

Our Values

Community-first, science-backed, transparent, and committed to long-term environmental justice for all Liberians.

Our Story

Built to close a data gap

Liberia had almost no routine PM2.5 evidence. In February 2025, the Kigali Collaborative Research Center (KCRC) won EPIC Air Quality Fund support to change that, partnering with United Methodist University (UMU) in Monrovia to design, install, and maintain the country's first low-cost sensor network — and to share every reading openly.

Since deployment began in April 2025, we've installed PM2.5 sensors across busy traffic corridors, dense neighborhoods, and public institutions in Greater Monrovia, completing the network on December 19, 2025, and publishing data openly via OpenAQ since May 2025. Along the way we've trained the student and technical teams who keep it running, and written the maintenance playbooks so the network doesn't depend on any one person.

The impact is starting to show beyond our own sensors: the Environmental Protection Agency now requires businesses to install air quality monitors, local media are connecting air pollution to heart disease and stroke in ways that reach the public, and a student-led advocacy group at United Methodist University has grown out of our training workshops — a sign that clean air is becoming a shared community priority, not just a project we run.

Meet Our Team

Our Journey

  • Feb 2025

    Clean Air Liberia awarded EPIC Air Quality Fund grant, implemented by Kigali Collaborative Research Center (KCRC) with United Methodist University (UMU) as local partner

  • Apr 2025

    Project implementation begins — first PM2.5 sensors installed across busy traffic areas, dense neighborhoods, and public institutions in Greater Monrovia

  • May 2025

    Began sharing PM2.5 data openly via the OpenAQ Explorer platform

  • Jul 2025

    First technical briefing with EPA-Liberia and academic partners (~20 participants) on integrating data into national reporting

  • Aug 2025

    UMU public awareness workshop (~60 students and faculty) launches a student-led air quality advocacy group and a joint UMU–Monrovia City Corporation sustainability club

  • Dec 2025

    PM2.5 sensor network fully deployed across Greater Monrovia (completed Dec 19, 2025)

  • Jan 2026

    Second batch of replacement sensors deployed with AirGradient after early hardware failures

  • Feb 2026

    EPA-Liberia begins requiring businesses to install air quality sensors; progress report submitted to the EPIC AQ Fund

Coordination & Legitimacy

Our Partners

The Clean Air Liberia Project is built on national and international coordination — every reading on this platform is backed by an institution working alongside us on the ground.

Academic Partner

United Methodist University

Co-leads field research design and trains the student technicians who service our monitoring stations.

Government Partner

Environmental Protection Agency, Liberia

Provides regulatory guidance and incorporates our monitoring data into national air quality standards.

Municipal Partner

Monrovia City Corporation

Coordinates urban site placement and supports community engagement across Monrovia's districts.

Financing Partner

Carbon Markets Authority

Supports emissions-reduction financing that funds clean cookstove distribution and field equipment.

Research & Funding

International Collaborators

A network of global universities and development partners providing technical and funding support.

Government Partner

Ministry of Health

Aligns clean air programming with national public health priorities and school health initiatives.

Technical Partner

AfriSET

Leads sensor calibration and data-quality protocols, and trains our field teams on installation and maintenance.

Equipment & Technical Partner

AirGradient

Supplies our PM2.5 sensor hardware, supports troubleshooting, and has replaced faulty units at no cost to keep the network running.

Operating Honestly

We publish the gaps, not just the highlights

Liberia's power grid and mobile connectivity vary widely by region, and our sensor network reflects those realities. Rather than smoothing over outages, every monitoring site on our live dashboard shows its current status — online, power-limited, or connectivity-limited — so the people relying on this data can judge its confidence for themselves.