Institute at Brown for Environment and Society
Date June 3, 2024
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IBES celebrates 10 years, applauds a record-setting class of graduates, and toasts to the future

During Commencement and Reunion Weekend, IBES celebrated its 10-year anniversary, hosted a discussion on cross-disciplinary climate action and cheered on its largest-ever graduating class.

With three days of festivities bringing together graduates, families and multiple generations of alumni, Commencement and Reunion Weekend at Brown University is always a special occasion. For the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, an extra celebratory buzz was in the air this year.

Alumni, families, students, faculty and others from the Institute’s extended community gathered on College Hill — some from across campus, others from across the globe — to celebrate major IBES milestones. They raised a glass to the Institute’s 10th anniversary; participated in a conversation on cross-disciplinary climate work at Brown; and cheered on a record-setting number of environmental studies and sciences graduates. 

Like the Memorial Day Weekend weather, the mood was bright as alumni swapped memories, families reconnected and faculty offered thoughtful remarks as they saw off the next generation of changemakers.

Honoring IBES’ origin story and Professor Emeritus Harold Ward

Nearly 200 guests turned out for a special celebration of IBES’ 10th anniversary on Friday, May 24. Under a tent on the South Walkway near the Urban Environmental Lab (UEL), students, families, Brown colleagues and alumni reminisced on environmental studies days gone by while celebrating IBES’ bright future. 

Amid the excited chatter rose the name Harold Ward, again and again. An emeritus professor who taught the first environmentally focused courses at Brown from the late 1970s into the early 2000s, Ward also led the erstwhile Center for Environmental Studies and worked with students to build the UEL, still a beloved symbol of ingenuity, environmental consciousness and alternative living on campus.

IBES Director Kim Cobb said Ward’s ideas about community partnerships and hands-on learning still resonate in IBES’ mission and vision today. His name and ideals live on, Cobb said, in the new Harold Ward Prize, which recognizes an outstanding ENVS senior whose environmental scholarship makes Rhode Island and the world a better place. Logan Torres, the inaugural recipient of this year's Harold Ward Prize, has distinguished himself as a University Presidential Scholar, as a student mentor, and through several public service and community engagement internships.

Over sparkling cider and 10th anniversary cake, students and colleagues past and present honored Ward, reveling in the decades of growth and scholarship his ideas brought about.

Later that evening, faculty, alumni, graduating students and their families gathered in the UEL for a cocktail reception — celebrating not just the graduates themselves, but also the community  that buoyed their success at Brown.

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At a Friday celebration of IBES’ 10th anniversary, the Institute honored Harold Ward, an emeritus professor who taught the first environmentally focused courses at Brown, led the University’s first environmental studies center and helped build the UEL.

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Some of Friday’s guests had traveled from just across town, while others had come from across the globe.

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IBES Director Kim Cobb said Harold Ward’s name and ideals would live on in the new Harold Ward Community Engagement Fund and Harold Ward Community Engagement Prize.

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Ward’s past students and colleagues bonded with him, swapped stories about environmental studies days gone by and reveled in the decades of growth and scholarship his humble ideas brought about.

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Guests snacked on hors d'oeuvres as they mingled.

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Speaking at a podium, Cobb applauded Harold Ward’s early efforts to develop an environmental studies program and build the UEL, a sustainable dormitory and classroom.

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Amanda Lynch, founding director of IBES, spoke about the hard work of getting the Institute off the ground in 2014.

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Cobb presented the first ever Harold Ward Community Engagement Prize to Class of 2024 graduate Logan Torres.

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Alum Chip Giller, Class of 1993, presented Harold Ward with a certificate of gratitude for his groundbreaking vision and work, which paved the way for today’s Institute

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Cobb and attendees raised a glass of sparkling cider to Harold Ward and the Institute’s 10th anniversary.

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Guests paired their sparkling cider with a slice of special 10th-anniversary cake.

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The Friday event showcased research posters by graduating seniors Emma Venarde and Isabella Garo.

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A 10th-anniversary event program traced the history of environmental studies at Brown, Harold Ward’s legacy and the establishment of IBES.

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The Friday celebration marked 10 years of high-impact research projects like Breathe Providence. Led by Professor Meredith Hastings, left, and bolstered by Brown alumna and Project Coordinator Grace Berg, the project monitors air quality in Rhode Island’s capital city.

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Brown’s decades of environmental studies graduates today craft environmental policy, lead environmentally focused nonprofits, engage in activism and teach environmental studies across the globe.

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Dozens of guests turned out for the celebration, including alumni, families, faculty and local community members.

Spotlighting climate collaboration at Brown

Commencement and Reunion Weekend isn’t all cider and celebration — it’s also an opportunity to learn new things. Each year, Saturday’s Commencement forums connect scholars, alumni and families through conversations about pressing issues like inequality, international conflicts — and, this year for the first time, climate change.

Over 100 people turned out for an IBES-hosted forum titled “Solving the Climate Challenge: How Brown Works Across Disciplines to Create a Sustainable and Equitable Future.” The event brought together leading faculty members from a range of fields — climate science, engineering, public affairs, public health and sustainability — to demonstrate how Brown is using an all-hands-on-deck approach to confront the climate crisis.

“ IBES has always been a hub for interdisciplinary research, and with these partnerships, we’re able to live out our ambitions more fully. ”

Kim Cobb Lawrence and Barbara Margolis Director of IBES

Panelist Stephen Porder, Brown’s associate provost for sustainability, explained that he and other leaders across multiple centers and institutes collaborate to break down disciplinary silos and work together on boundary-breaking projects that help mitigate the effects of climate change.

“The reason we started meeting was simply that we were coming from all these different perspectives to address this monumental challenge of the 21st century,” Porder said. “We weren’t exactly sure what we were going to do, but we knew we wanted to do it big, and we needed to do it fast.”

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IBES’ Saturday Commencement Forum brought together multiple Brown leaders working together to solve the climate crisis — including Associate Provost for Sustainability Stephen Porder, School of Public Health Dean Ashish Jha, Director of the Watson Institute Climate Solutions Lab Jeff Colgan, Director of the Initiative for Sustainable Energy Nitin Padture and IBES Director Kim Cobb. The forum was moderated by Brown alumna and Possibly podcast host Megan Hall, left.

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Panelists shared details of how they reach out across disciplinary silos, from engineering to public health, and team up to find climate solutions.

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The speakers and audience members gathered inside IBES’ Carmichael Auditorium.

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Despite the weighty subject matter, audience members were all smiles during the forum.

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In typical Brown fashion, audience members had plenty of questions for the panlists about how communities and individuals can help solve the climate crisis.

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Some who asked questions worked in the environmental sector, while others came from other professions and walks of life.

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After the discussion, alumni, families and community members who attended had a chance to mingle with the panelists.

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Ashish Jha, dean of the School of Public Health, answered questions from audience members who recognized him from television, podcast and other news appearances.

Moderated by Brown alumna Megan Hall, who hosts the nationally syndicated, IBES-produced environmental podcast Possibly, the conversation shed light on how Brown’s culture of collaboration has helped catalyze solutions to sea level rise, air pollution and other issues in Rhode Island and beyond — and how it has created a “living lab” where students can gain hands-on experience in creating sustainable change, no matter their concentration.

"IBES has always been a hub for interdisciplinary research,” Cobb said, “and with these partnerships, we’re able to live out our ambitions more fully."

A record-setting class of graduates

The Class of 2024 graduated from high school over Zoom. They took their first college courses with masks on, sitting six feet apart from their peers.

So for these students, graduating in person with all the trappings of normalcy felt like a monumental, hard-earned moment.

Like their pre-pandemic peers, Brown’s environmental studies and sciences graduates got to experience the heady energy of Brown’s famous Commencement procession down College Hill. They sat in close quarters with their peers on the lawn of the First Baptist Church in America for the College Ceremony, took in the University Ceremony on the College Green and watched two of their fellow graduates give moving orations.

Then, they connected with their families and faculty mentors at Sunday afternoon’s environmental studies and sciences (ENVS) diploma ceremony. 

It was the ENVS program’s biggest Commencement ceremony in history, with more than 60 graduating seniors. Under a tent near Carrie Tower, with hundreds of loved ones looking on, the graduates cheered for each other as IBES faculty members listed their unique accomplishments, including theses, research projects and volunteer work.

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After the energetic Commencement procession and two larger ceremonies, students linked back up with families and faculty mentors — like Professor Timmons Roberts, right — at Sunday afternoon’s environmental studies and sciences diploma ceremony.

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Outside the tent, students, faculty and families gathered in anticipatory celebration.

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IBES Director Kim Cobb addressed the graduates, congratulating them on their achievements.

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It was the ENVS program’s biggest Commencement ceremony in history, with more than 60 graduating seniors.

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There was no shortage of emotional moments and hugs on the diploma ceremony stage.

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The graduates cheered for each other as IBES-affiliated faculty members listed their unique accomplishments: theses, research projects, volunteer work.

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To many ENVS students, faculty members are more than just professors — they’re mentors, research partners and friends.

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The students took in their peers’ and their own achievements with smiles and laughs.

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For the Class of 2024, most of whom graduated from high school over Zoom and took their first college courses with masks on, graduating in person with all the trappings of normalcy felt like a monumental moment.

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For many families, Sunday marked the last opportunity to thank and embrace faculty members who helped shape students’ successful journeys.

Soon after, the graduates packed their bags and headed off to new lives. Some will start careers in environmental policy, at nonprofit organizations or in the public sector. Others will head to graduate school with the goal of pursuing jobs in environmental law or sustainable finance.

Just like today’s alumni, they’ll be back someday to swap IBES anecdotes, cheer on Brown’s newest graduates and celebrate growth and change at the University — and the Institute — that helped shape them.

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