Testifying before the RI House Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, IBES Professor Stephen Porder discussed how the state could electrify the economy to meet mandates outlined in the Act on Climate.
Institute at Brown for Environment and Society
2026 News
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Climate action moves forward despite Trump’s policy rollbacks. Will it be enough?
Baylor Fox-Kemper, an IBES Faculty Fellow and Professor of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, offered commentary on the clean-energy economy and climate change.
2025-2026 Brown University Book Award
"Floating Coast: An Environmental History of the Bering Strait" by IBES and History Associate Professor Bathsheba Demuth has been selected as the 2025-2026 Brown University Book Award.
January 30, 2026
News from Brown
Childhood lead exposure associated with increased depressive symptoms in adolescence
A federally funded study led by Brown University researchers links increased childhood blood lead concentrations with increased depressive symptoms in adolescence, with larger increases when exposure occurred later in childhood.
Stephen Porder Testifies to RI House Committee on Environment and Natural Resources
"There is no way to comply with the Act on Climate and continue to rely on gas and oil," IBES Professor Stephen Porder testified at the Rhode Island State House.
Citing study, OPPD said its Omaha coal plant poses no ‘significant’ health threat. That’s misleading, experts say.
Corwin Zigler, a professor of biostatistics and an IBES affiliate, was consulted as an expert for this reporting.
“Let them eat kale!”: Appeals to class-based resentment in American conservative opposition to climate change solutions
IBES Assistant Professor Rachel Wetts and coauthor Loredana Loy reveal that "appeals to class-based resentment against cultural elites are one prominent strategy to urge publics to reject climate mitigation strategies."
The new suite of student offerings includes a 500% increase in paid internships and research opportunities as well as professional development workshops, alumni networking, and an annual Climate Career Fair.
Find your place in the climate space: Brown's first Climate Week is March 2-7, 2026.
With IBES as the lead sponsor, Brown’s first-ever Climate Week is an open invitation for students, faculty, alumni, and community members to come together to explore how research, policy, and practice intersect to drive meaningful climate solutions.
Europe gets ‘green energy’. These Southern towns get dirty air.
Assistant Professor of Epidemiology Erica Walker, an IBES affiliate faculty member, offered commentary on the public health impact of pellet mills in the American South, which are 50% more likely to be located in communities with a high proportion of poor and nonwhite residents.
Brad Marston on science, democracy, and the hard work ahead
Brad Marston — an IBES faculty fellow, professor of physics, and 2026 president of the American Physical Society — discussed his research and priorities for the year ahead, including focusing on climate science and the role of democracy in scientific discovery.
A Simple Silver Fix May Finally Stop Solid-State Batteries From Cracking
Professor of Engineering Yue Qi, an IBES affiliate and deputy director of Brown's Initiative for Sustainable Energy, is a senior author on a study that found a nanoscale silver coating could be the key to making ultra-powerful solid-state batteries work.
The Usual Suspects When It Comes Climate Action Obstruction in Rhode Island
This opinion piece cites recent research from the IBES-based Climate and Development Lab, led by Professor Timmons Roberts.
WATCH | GIS Career Panel
Held during the 2025 Geography Awareness Week, the November 19 panel brought together professionals who have built diverse careers in transportation, utilities, government, and environmental planning.
Lobbyists’ Opposition to Climate Legislation Has Profound Effect, Brown University Report Finds
According to a new report from the IBES-based Climate and Development Lab, opposition to climate legislation from Rhode Island’s main utility company and business interests are slowing climate legislation in the state.
Interpersonal and Self-Inflicted Violence Linked to Temperature Spikes
This article relays key findings from a new study of which Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou, a professor at IBES and the School of Public Health, is a co-author.
Higher temperatures are associated with increased interpersonal and self-inflicted violence-related Medicaid hospital visits in the United States
IBES and Epidemiology Professor Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou is among the authors of this new study, which links violence and temperature spikes.
Pachyderm Pharmacies
Voss Postdoc Elodie Freymann, who studies self-medicating behavior among chimpanzees in Uganda, offered commentary about new research on elephants' search for medicinal plants.
Who’s Obstructing Climate Action in the Rhode Island Legislature?
Members of the IBES-based Climate and Development Lab found that Rhode Island Energy and the Public Utilities Commission are among the entities obstructing climate action in the state.
WATCH | Values at Risk 2025: Nature, Climate, and the Systemic Risk to our Economic Future
Experts from finance, insurance, policy, and environmental science joined IBES for a timely conversation on how escalating climate and nature-related risks are reshaping economic stability—and what tools can help safeguard our financial future.
Climate change played a key role in some significant weather events in 2025
IBES Director Kim Cobb discussed the physical and economic toll of 2025's most devastating weather events, including the Palisades and Eaton Fires and Hurricane Melissa.