All News

February 2, 2026 University of Colorado Boulder

Some tropical land may experience stronger-than-expected warming under climate change

A new study led by former IBES Voss Postdoc Lina Pérez-Angel used lake sediments from the Colombian Andes to reveal that, when the planet warmed millions of years ago under carbon dioxide levels similar to today’s, tropical land heated up nearly twice as much as the ocean.

February 2, 2026 PNAS

Evolution of Pliocene-Pleistocene tropical terrestrial Andean temperature amplification

Former Voss Postdoc Lina C. Pérez-Angel authored this article, which found that the tropics are warming more than expected.

February 2, 2026 Jackson Advocate

Brown University collaborates with local students to examine environmental comfort in state

Erica Walker, an IBES Faculty Affiliate and Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, discussed her new research project, for which students in Mississippi will be trained to collect air quality, noise, and light pollution measurements.

February 2, 2026 Brown Bookstore

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 31, 2026 EdWorkingPapers

U.S. Schools’ Proximity to Environmental Hazard Sites: A National Analysis

Professor of Education and IBES faculty affiliate Matthew Kraft and members of his SustainableED team conducted a nationwide assessment of U.S. PreK-12 public and private schools’ proximity to known environmental hazard sites.

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.

January 29, 2026 Rhode Island House of Representatives

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.

January 29, 2026 AGU Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology

Plant Wax Isotopic Reconstructions Reveal Thermodynamic Drivers of Hydroclimate Over the Last Two Glacial Cycles at Great Salt Lake and Bear Lake, Utah

Assistant Professor Daniel Ibarra is coauthor of this study.

January 29, 2026 Flatwater Free Press

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.

January 28, 2026 Social Problems

“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."

January 23, 2026 News from IBES

IBES launches STEP Program to expand student professional development opportunities in climate, sustainability and the environment

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.

January 23, 2026 News from IBES

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.

January 23, 2026 Grist

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.

January 20, 2026 American Physical Society

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.

January 16, 2026 SciTechDaily

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.

January 14, 2026 EcoRI News

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.

January 12, 2026 News from IBES

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.

January 12, 2026 EcoRI News

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.

January 8, 2026 Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

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.

January 8, 2026 Communications Sustainability

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.

January 8, 2026 bioGraphic

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.

January 6, 2026 Climate and Development Lab

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.

January 5, 2026 News from IBES

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.

January 2, 2026 NBC Connecticut

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.

December 27, 2025 Los Angeles Times

In halting offshore wind projects, we hinder our own clean energy potential

This letter to the editor cites research from the IBES-based Climate and Development Lab.

December 26, 2025 PBS

White House pushes to dismantle leading climate and weather research center

IBES Director Kim Cobb was interviewed about the role of the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the Trump administration's recent moves to shutter it.

December 19, 2025 WBUR

New study finds sea level rise is speeding up, contradicting federal report

IBES Fellow Baylor-Fox Kemper, a professor in the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, offered commentary for this article.

December 17, 2025 The New York Times

Trump Administration Plans to Break Up Premier Weather and Climate Research Center

IBES Director Kim Cobb described the National Center for Atmospheric Research as “the beating heart of our field” and called its end “unthinkable.”

December 17, 2025 Bloomberg

Trump Administration Aims to Dismantle Key Climate Research Hub

IBES Director Kim Cobb called plans to shutter the National Center for Atmospheric Research "a national security risk."

December 11, 2025 News from IBES

IBES at COP30: Faculty examine wins, setbacks, and what comes next

Through on-the-ground interviews and new insights on misinformation, IBES faculty members Myles Lennon and Timmons Roberts uncovered what COP30 achieved—and what still stands in the way.

December 11, 2025 Canary Media

The man behind the fall of offshore wind

Professor Timmons Roberts offered commentary on opposition to offshore wind, which is often based in misinformation.

December 10, 2025 PEN America

Snapshots of Censorship: Tilting at Windmills

Professor Timmons Roberts penned this column, which reflects on recent political threats to academic research.

December 8, 2025 News from IBES

Meet Voss Fellow Piete Gatesi ’27: Balancing safety, performance, and durability in formulating the next alternative battery

Gatesi, an Engineering Physics and ENVS concentrator, is researching “the most promising alternative” to standard lithium ion batteries by manipulating Lithium Lanthanum Zirconium Tantalum Oxide (LLZTO) to be more sustainable.

December 7, 2025 Technology.Org

Research provides new design specs for burgeoning sodium-ion batteries

Yue Qi — an engineering professor, IBES affiliate, and deputy director of Brown's Initiative for Sustainable Energy — discussed her new study, which offers guidance for designing sodium-ion batteries.

December 5, 2025 The Brown Daily Herald

Fighting the College Hill floods: Brown takes steps to contain stormwater

IBES Director Kim Cobb offered commentary on Brown's efforts to increase climate resilience on campus.

November 30, 2025 The New York Times

Many Fighting Climate Change Worry They Are Losing the Information War

IBES Professor Timmons Roberts offered commentary on "sophisticated and extremely well funded" disinformation campaigns that have "succeeded at undermining climate action globally.”

November 26, 2025 News from Brown

Expanding seasonal immunization access could minimize off-season RSV epidemics

Researchers found differences in how respiratory syncytial virus spreads among children in rural versus urban communities and concluded that year-round immunizations would minimize risks of large seasonal outbreaks.

November 26, 2025 Media Matters for America

Corporate broadcast news covered this year’s COP30 global climate summit for 2 minutes — cable networks covered it for just over 3 hours

This article cites commentary from IBES Director Kim Cobb, who discussed COP30 and the global state of clean energy on CNN.

November 24, 2025 Mongabay

News Archive