The IBES-based Climate Social Science Network, led by Professor Timmons Roberts, recently released "Climate Obstruction: A Global Assessment," which explores who is blocking action on climate change and how they are doing it.
Institute at Brown for Environment and Society
News Archive
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November 20, 2025
News from Brown
Research provides new design specs for burgeoning sodium-ion batteries
A study provides new guidance for designing sodium-ion batteries, which are emerging as a less expensive and more environmentally friendly complement to lithium-based batteries.
The Brown Daily Herald
Brown begins work on $7 million microplastics research initiative
IBES Fellow Baylor Fox Kemper and Affiliate Mara Freilich, both faculty members in the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, are among the Brown researchers involved in the new SIMCoast initiative.
Bay to Bay News
Eidman: Big Oil is duping us about offshore wind
This column cites reports from researchers at the IBES-based Climate and Development Lab.
Earth Journalism Network
Countries Sign A Declaration To Fight Climate Disinformation At COP30
IBES Professor Timmons Roberts is among the prominent voices who advocated against climate disinformation at COP30 in Brazil.
Facing Future
The Phosphorus Conundrum
IBES Professor Stephen Porder and UVM Associate Professor Eric Roy, a former Voss postdoc, joined this episode of Facing Future to explain their work on the phosphorous cycle.
Professor Laurence C. Smith and colleagues are leading research on the melting Arctic and examining where meltwater ultimately ends up.
Global Issues
Without Truth, There Can Be No Climate Justice—Experts
IBES Professor Timmons Roberts discussed climate disinformation at COP30 in Belém, Brazil.
IBES Director Kim Cobb joined the AirTalk radio show to discuss Bill Gates's recent memo on climate change — in which he expresses concerns on how the climate crisis is being framed and addressed — and how should we talk about climate moving forward.
At a recent IBES seminar, Columbia University’s Adam Sobel called for a transparent approach to climate risk science—one that guides practical decisions in an era of extremes.
IBES Director Kim Cobb offered commentary on carbon emissions and climate.
News from IBES
IBES Voss Fellows bring climate research to the community
Members of the 2025-2026 Voss Undergraduate Fellowship cohort have shared their research with local audiences through the Conversations in Science series at Providence’s Hamilton House.
Frontiers in Bird Science
Fire-crested alethes (Alethe castanea) follow humans and bushbuck in Uganda’s Budongo Forest
This report, authored by IBES Voss Postdoc Elodie Freymann, documents a novel foraging behavior in fire-crested alethes in the Budongo Forest Reserve of Western Uganda.
Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Algorithmic North: Weather, Security and International Law
Professor Amanda Lynch co-authored this policy brief.
November 6, 2025
News from Brown
Pecking with power: How tiny woodpeckers deliver devastating strikes to drill into wood
A new study reveals how woodpeckers combine breathing and whole-body coordination to drill into trees with extraordinary force.
IBES affiliate David Savitz, a professor emeritus of epidemiology and pediatrics, offered commentary on how uncertainty around toxin data can affect public health outcomes.
Nature Climate Change
Expert retrospective on a decade of the Paris Agreement
Experts including Professor J. Timmons Roberts reflected on the progress of and barriers to several of the Paris Agreement's key Articles.
A team of researchers, including Assistant Professor Daniel Ibarra, examined preserved trees to understand how plants responded to the low carbon dioxide levels and cooler temperatures of the last glacial period, about 20,000 years ago.
This paper, co-authored by Assistant Professor Daniel Ibarra, supports the hypothesis of a negative feedback that limits atmospheric carbon dioxide decline during glacial periods.
Federation of American Scientists
Protecting the Health of Americans in the Face of Extreme Weather
IBES affiliate Stefanie Friedhoff (School of Public Health) is among the authors of a new report highlighting how extreme weather events are jeopardizing the health, safety and economic prospects of Americans.
This article features research and commentary from IBES Professor Laurence C. Smith.
The New York Times
Take a Deep Breath? How Bad Air Affects Your Marathon Finish Time
Allan Just, Associate IBES and Epidemiology Professor, and Joseph Braun, Professor of Epidemiology and an IBES Faculty Fellow, are among the authors of a study finding that poor air quality negatively affects marathon finish times.
IBES Fellow Baylor Fox-Kemper is the leading Brown faculty member involved in SIMCoast, an NSF initiative to track how microplastics move from land to sea and explore what this means for ecosystems, climate, and communities.
During an October 18 book talk, Assistant Professor Myles Lennon challenged audiences to see solar energy as not only a climate solution, but a reflection of deeper social and economic inequities.
npj Ocean Sustainability
The Central Arctic Ocean as a beacon of hope for the global ocean
IBES and DEEPS Professor Amanda Lynch co-authored this commentary, which states that, if done well, the Central Arctic Ocean Fisheries Agreement "can provide a model for sustainable ocean management around the world."
Rainforest Reserves Australia misleadingly cited research by Visiting Professor Robert Brulle, an expert on global climate obstruction, in a submission to Australia's Senate inquiry on misinformation and disinformation. Brulle offered commentary on the matter.
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability
U-M SEAS Detroit Sustainability Clinic announces Fall 2025 Urban Sustainability & Justice Faculty Fellow
As an Urban Sustainability & Justice Faculty Fellow, Assistant Professor Myles Lennon will visit Ann Arbor and Detroit in November, engaging in conversations on energy justice and sustainability and connecting with community organizations.
In Tyler Kartzinel’s Genomic Opportunities Lab, students and scientists work hand-in-hand with global partners to solve urgent conservation challenges, from restoring habitats to understanding what keeps wildlife healthy.
Associate Professor Tyler Kartzinel co-authored a new study that reveals how diamondback terrapins, keystone predators in salt marshes, face heightened risks as their populations decline.
News from IBES
IBES faculty help shape Climate Week NYC
From the Explorers Club to the United Nations Headquarters, IBES faculty were at the forefront of Climate Week, contributing expertise on the cryosphere, climate obstruction, and global science funding.
October 9, 2025
News from Anthropology
50+ Environmental Anthropologists Convene at Brown for Two Days of Dialogue and Exchange
The conference brought together leading and emerging scholars in a warm, collegial setting to reflect on the future of environmental anthropology.
Ten years of research projects, countless ideas, one shared mission: to build a sustainable future.
The Brown Daily Herald
Brown professor’s recent book explores the gloomy side of solar panels
Assistant Professor Myles Lennon published his first book, “Subjects of the Sun: Solar Energy in the Shadows of Racial Capitalism,” over the summer.
News from IBES
IBES announces 2025 Catalyst Research Awardees
IBES awarded grants to six core and affiliate faculty members, allowing them to conduct research that crosses boundaries and benefits communities, both at Brown and around the world.
Elodie Freymann, a primatologist and IBES Voss postdoctoral researcher, reflected on how Dr. Jane Goodall inspired her professionally and personally.
Australian Parliament House Streaming Portal
Timmons Roberts testifies before Australian Parliament
Professor Timmons Roberts virtually testified before the Australian Parliament's Select Committee on Information Integrity on Climate Change and Energy, answering senators' questions and detailing his climate obstruction research.
Providence Business News
Air quality in R.I. a problem that just won’t blow over
Professor Meredith Hastings discussed the air quality in Providence, as monitored through her Breathe Providence project.
The Providence Journal
Energy Efficiency Council won't back RI Energy's plan to cut efficiency programs
This article includes commentary from Teaching Professor Kurt Teichert, a member of the Energy Efficiency Council.
Associate Professor Tyler Kartzinel offered commentary for this article.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
International team publishes framework for study of ‘Earth engineers’
Assistant Professor Daniel Ibarra is co-author of a new study, which provides a new framework for examining how organisms have fundamentally altered ecosystems on a global scale across hundreds, thousands, or millions of years.
Trends in Ecology & Evolution
‘Earth system engineers’ and the cumulative impact of organisms in deep time
Assistant Professor Daniel Ibarra is co-author of this study, which provides a new framework for examining how organisms have fundamentally altered ecosystems on a global scale across hundreds, thousands, or millions of years.
News from IBES
IBES Fellow helps launch Africa’s first parrot museum
Professor Nancy Jacobs, along with three Brown students and local partners, recently opened a new museum in Uganda to connect communities with endangered wildlife.
This study, co-authored by IBES and Biology Associate Professor Tyler Kartzinel, reveals that diamondback terrapins face heightened risks at the northern edge of their range in New England as their genetic diversity declines.
Jennifer Hadden, an IBES affiliate at the Watson School for International and Public Affairs, co-penned this commentary, which notes that "the current U.S. housing policy regime creates tradeoffs between promoting equity and addressing climate risk."
National Geographic
Inside the rush to buy an electric vehicle
IBES Professor Stephen Porder offered commentary on electric vehicles.
Professor Timmons Roberts, whose Climate and Development Lab has researched the network of entities that oppose offshore wind projects, offered commentary for this article.
IBES Director Kim Cobb is one of dozens of scientists working to counter the Trump administration's efforts to weaken pollution regulations.
The Brown Daily Herald
Law firm threatens Brown’s funding over research about anti-offshore wind groups
Representing local anti-offshore wind group Green Oceans, Marzulla Law sent a letter to Brown demanding research from IBES' Climate and Development Lab be retracted. CDL Director Timmons Roberts offered commentary and updates on the matter.
Nature Communications
Greenland ice sheet runoff reduced by meltwater refreezing in bare ice
This study, co-authored by Professor Laurence C. Smith and former IBES postdoc Jonathan Ryan, suggests that climate models may be overestimating current levels of meltwater runoff from the Greenland Ice Sheet.
Jackson Advocate
Local high school students catalog abandoned buildings in Jackson
IBES affiliate Erica Walker, an assistant professor of epidemiology, is partnering with student interns in Jackson, Mississippi, to investigate the root causes and long-term environmental impacts of illegal dumping.