Institute at Brown for Environment and Society
Institute at Brown for Environment and Society
Empowering people, driving solutions for a sustainable world
Institute at Brown for Environment and Society
Empowering people, driving solutions for a sustainable world
Today’s problems are complex and interconnected, and so are the solutions.
Addressing the 21st century’s most pressing climate and sustainability challenges requires new levels of collaboration and action across disciplines, sectors, and scales of impact.
Through solutions-focused research and education enabled by deep partnerships across Brown and beyond, the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society (IBES) aims to be an engine of real-world impact and a training ground for the next generation of changemakers building a just, sustainable world. Backed by a bold five-year strategic plan and grounded in a culture that promotes interdisciplinary collaboration, nimble innovation, public engagement, and equitable outcomes, we seek to bolster knowledge-to-action pathways in Providence, across the nation, and around the world.
About IBES
The Institute at Brown for Environment and Society (IBES) is accelerating solutions to the most complex climate and sustainability challenges of our time through interdisciplinary research, teaching and impact.
Research
Home to more than two dozen core faculty engaged in 100+ active projects, IBES is Brown's hub for interdisciplinary climate and sustainability research.
Advancing knowledge every day
Education
IBES is equipping Brown students to turn climate challenges into real-world solutions.
Curious minds welcome
Impact
Through applied research, hands-on learning, and policy engagement, IBES turns knowledge into action.
Meeting the moment
https://www.youtube.com/embed/S6kV8DKuGWs
IBES 101
In this short video, discover how IBES brings together scholars, students, and communities to tackle the world’s toughest environmental challenges.
News & Events
Discover what's happening at IBES, where every story is a step towards a brighter, more sustainable world.
Recent News
All News
The Brown Daily Herald
Brown’s first-ever Climate Week celebrates education, innovation
The Herald spoke with Climate Week organizers and participants to understand how different industries and corners of academia can contribute to climate solutions.
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As one of the featured speakers of the 2026 spring semester's Brown Seminar Series on Environment and Society, Providence College's Thea Riofrancos examined the political ecology of the energy transition, drawing on extensive fieldwork and research across Latin America, the United States, and Europe.
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John Fullerton, founder of the Capital Institute and former JPMorgan managing director, joined IBES' Professor Ricardo Bayon for a fireside chat.
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Professors Stephen Porder and Timmons Roberts offered research-driven perspectives on climate change, energy policy, and equity during recent testimonies to state policymakers, urging them to stay the course on Rhode Island’s climate commitments.
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News from IBES
A week of climate collaboration across Brown
Brown Climate Week, March 2–7, 2026, will spotlight Brown’s climate research, career exploration, and sustainability leadership through talks, conferences, networking events, and more.
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A reconstruction of temperature in Colombia during the Pliocene, when CO2 levels were similar to today, suggests that parts of the tropics might soon experience more dramatic warming than previously expected.
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Engage with IBES
Connect. Support students. Discover IBES-led climate and sustainability research and teaching in action.
Weekly podcast: Sustainability solutions in 4 minutes or fewer
Explore Possibly, the podcast reported by Brown University students that cuts through climate confusion with clear, rigorously fact-checked answers to everyday sustainability questions.
Contact us | ||
| Brown University, Box 1951 85 Waterman Street, Providence, RI 02912 | +1 (401) 863-3449 environment@brown.edu |