Harold Ward, the father of the environmental studies program at Brown, passed away on in December 2024 at the age of 89.
Institute at Brown for Environment and Society
2025 News
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April 23, 2025
News from Brown
Six Brown scholars elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
With their election to the prestigious honor society, six members of the Brown University faculty join the nation’s leading scholars in science, public affairs, business, arts and the humanities.
2025 State of the Air Report: Air Quality Worsens in Providence Metro Area Due to Wildfire Smoke
Members of the IBES-housed Breathe Providence project offered commentary for this press release.
April 22, 2025
News from Brown
Staff Spotlight: Sowing more than seedlings, Nicholas Vasques cultivates learning and research
As Brown’s research greenhouse manager, Vasques tends the Plant Environmental Center run by the University’s Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology.
April 22, 2025
News from Brown
Video: Brown biologist Stephen Porder on taking purposeful, planet-positive personal steps
This Earth Day, Brown University’s associate provost for sustainability offers strategies to minimize carbon dioxide emissions and help mitigate climate change.
Tariffs will raise prices. But the climate crisis is the real inflation risk
IBES Affiliate Mark Blyth penned this opinion piece with Visiting Scholar Nicolò Fraccaroli.
Scientists face deficiencies in leadership countering US policies
IBES and Sociology Professor Scott Frickel offered commentary for this article.
Amanda Lynch named to Advisory Council of The North World Approach
IBES’ founding director joins global leaders to help shape a new framework for sustainable and just governance in the Arctic.
Bite-Sizing Climate Action
"Possibly" – IBES' podcast with the Public's Radio – fights climate-change overwhelm, one “let’s break this down” episode at a time.
Trump’s new reason for canceling grants: ‘Climate anxiety’
“The answer to rising levels of climate anxiety is to meet the moment with robust and durable evidence-based solutions,” IBES Director Kim Cobb told The Washington Post. “It’s not to stick our heads in the sand.”
America Is Backsliding Toward Its Most Polluted Era
Corwin Zigler — a biostatistics professor and IBES affiliate who served on an EPA scientific advisory panel on air pollution under the Biden administration — provided commentary for this article.
What Brown experts, RI officials think about the EPA’s planned climate rollbacks
IBES Professors Kim Cobb, Scott Frickel, and Meredith Hastings offered commentary for this article, condemning the rollback of federal environmental oversight.
Growing sustainable capitalism: The environmental politics of agri-tech in Singapore
This article, written by Voss Postdoc Vanessa Koh, examines the nexus of the emergence of the agri-tech ecosystem in Singapore and concerns over climate change.
Meet Voss Fellow Sidharth Siddapureddy ’25: How a tree can reshape forests in a warming world
Siddapureddy, a senior concentrating in ecology, explores the impact of invasive trees to understand climate change.
Kurt Pennell — an engineering professor, IBES fellow, and groundwater remediation expert — offered input during an October 2024 meeting to review the environmental impacts of the the Massachusetts Army National Guard's controversial proposal for a machine gun range on Joint Base Cape Cod.
Free Environmental Explorers School for Mississippi middle school students
With the help of an IBES Catalyst Research Award, affiliate faculty member Erica Walker and her Community Noise Lab will launch a free, self-paced online summer environmental health and science program for middle school students in Jackson, Mississippi.
March 24, 2025
News from Brown
New research helps reconstruct sudden, dramatic sea level rise after last ice age
By determining which ice sheets melted to create a colossal increase in sea levels 14,500 years ago, scientists hope to enable better predictions of how current ice melting will affect levels around the world.
Improving future climate meetings
Jennifer Hadden, an IBES affiliate at the Watson Institute, penned with article alongside Aseem Prakash of the University of Washington.
STEM Day at Brown University to welcome 250 local high school students
IBES affiliate Jerome Robinson, an associate professor of chemistry, discussed STEM Day at Brown — an initiative he leads for local high schoolers.
Brown Climate Study Named Finalist for PNAS Cozzarelli Prize
Professor Dov Sax and fellow researchers received recognition for their IBES-supported study challenging traditional forecasting methods for the impacts of climate change on species.
Can Talking About Climate Change Reduce Anxiety?
This episode of Citizens’ Climate Radio features insights from Kate Schapira, an IBES affiliate in the Department of English.
A Long-Lasting, High-Stability Reactor System for Compound-Specific Carbon Isotope Analyses
IBES Fellow Yonsong Huang and former IBES postdoc Bumsoo Kim are among the authors of this study.
School Disruptions from the LA Fires Hit Latino, Disadvantaged and English-Language Learners Hardest, Experts Find
"Extreme weather events, made more frequent and intense by climate change, pose a clear and present danger to our education system," said affiliate faculty member Matthew Kraft.
March 13, 2025
News from Brown
Brown launches new master’s degree program in sustainable energy
Combining cutting-edge science, technology and engineering education with economic and policy instruction, the on-campus program will prepare students to be change-makers in the global transition to renewable energy.
Brown University lab helps identify meteorite that fell on ice cream
Members of Assistant Professor Dan Ibarra's lab, including graduate affiliate Riley Havel, who was interviewed for this piece, identified a meteorite that landed in a carton of ice cream in Pennsylvania.
Climate investor Tom Steyer kicks off 2025 FSIcon
The fight for renewable energy can be won in the marketplace, Steyer argued during a moderated keynote address.
Trees, Heat and Human Health
This article highlights the engaged work that three ENVS concentrators are conducting to increase tree equity in Providence and bolster community health.
Determination of KGa-1b and SHCa-1 Δ′17O and δ18O via Laser Fluorination of Lithium Fluoride Clay Pellets
This study was conducted by members of Assistant Professor Daniel Ibarra's lab, including an IBES postdoc and graduate affiliates.
What’s next for the economy? Billionaire Tom Steyer says it should be renewable energy.
IBES Director introduced Steyer as a “force of nature” in her opening remarks, describing him as “somebody who has taken all of their chips and gone all in on climate.”
Giraffes' gut microbiome communities determined by species, not diet
Researchers from Brown, including IBES Associate Professor Tyler Kartiznel, contributed to a study that found giraffes' gut microbiome is more closely tied to the giraffe’s species than to the specific plants it consumes.
Hit by ‘Gut Punches,’ Scientists Band Together to Protest Trump
IBES and Sociology Professor Scott Frickel offered commentary about the tradition of science activism.
Meet Voss Fellow Marlena Brown ’25: Studying climate change through 19th-century corals
Brown, an Environmental Sciences & Studies concentrator, analyzes coral skeletons to reconstruct historical El Niño patterns and inform modern climate models.
Can RI force fossil fuel companies to pay for climate change? Here's how.
IBES Professor Timmons Roberts noted that fossil fuel companies have "buried the negative impacts of their product like the tobacco companies did."
Scientists scorn EPA push to say climate change isn’t a danger, say just look around at the world
Kim Cobb offered commentary on the scientific evidence that climate change is harming people and the planet.
Unexpected discoveries in study of giraffe gut flora
Past and present members of Associate Professor Tyler Karzinel's lab analyzed the link between diet and gut flora in three giraffe species.
Working To Preserve Cashes Ledge, 'Yellowstone Of The North Atlantic'
IBES Fellow and Biology Professor Jon Witman, who has studied Cashes Ledge since 1977, offered commentary for this article.
New sustainable energy master’s program will use cross-disciplinary coursework to study energy systems
“We really need an educated workforce who can understand what’s going on (and) how to transform from a historically carbon-based economy to a decarbonized economy,” said Nitin Padture, an IBES faculty affiliate and the director of the Initiative for Sustainable Energy.
Expert explains dangerous implications of Trump administration's future plans: 'An oil spill ... is inevitable'
IBES and DEEPS Professor Amanda Lynch offered commentary for this article.
Exploring green futures: Brown’s first Climate Careers Fair connects students, alumni, and employers
On Friday, February 7, Sayles Hall buzzed with excitement as students met with representatives from a diverse array of organizations at the inaugural Climate Careers Exploration Fair. The event connected students with employers offering climate-focused jobs and provided insights from alumni navigating careers in the environmental sector.
Research, Training, Travel: How IBES supports graduate scholars
For the past decade, IBES’ Research, Training, and Travel (RTT) Awards have empowered graduate students working in units across Brown University to advance environmental research while building skills beyond campus.
Paris climate target nearer than thought as Earth heats faster
IBES Director Kim Cobb acknowledged the grim reality of increasing global temperatures while asserting that "peak fossil fuel emissions are in reach, this year or next...if we keep our eyes on the prize."
IBES, Career Center hosts first climate-centered career fair
On February 7, IBES hosted Brown's first-ever Climate Careers Exploration Fair, specially geared toward professional development opportunities for students interested in climate-related fields.
Diet-microbiome covariation across three giraffe species in a close-contact zone
Associate Professor Tyler Kartzinel's lab group collaborated with nonprofits in Kenya and Namibia to compare the diets and gut microbiomes of giraffes.
Jeanne Loewenstein Receives Excellence Award for Service
Loewenstein, IBES' academic program manager, has earned a reputation for her dedication to students' learning and wellbeing.
‘It’s Surreal’: Trump’s Freeze on Climate Money Sows Fear and Confusion
IBES Professor Laurence C. Smith offered commentary for this article.
Trump’s first term birthed the March for Science. Where are the science activists now?
IBES and Sociology Professor Scott Frickel offered commentary about science organizing and activism.
Oceans Are Warming Faster and Faster as the Earth Traps More Energy
IBES Director Kim Cobb offered commentary for this article, noting that a new study offers strong evidence linking recent global warming to the burning of fossil fuels.
XIS-PM2.5: A daily spatiotemporal machine-learning model for PM2.5 in the contiguous United States
IBES and Epidemiology Associate Professor Allan Just led the development of this state-of-the-art national spatiotemporal exposure model, which reconstructs daily particulate air pollution estimates for use in a wide range of health studies.
Students serve as environmental problem-solvers in ENVS 0110
IBES' signature class, “Humans, Nature, and the Environment,” bridges the gap between classroom learning and real-world solutions, connecting first- and second-year students with local organizations to address pressing environmental issues.
Woburn startup could give US solar industry a second chance
This article includes commentary from Professor of Engineering Nitin Padture, an IBES affiliate, on the life expectancies of different types of solar collectors.
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