All News

June 20, 2025 News from Brown

New research casts doubt on ancient drying of northern Africa’s climate

The study challenges the idea that the climate of northern Africa dried out around 3 million years ago, a time when the earliest known hominids appear in the fossil record.

June 17, 2025 News from IBES

A forest reignited: Senior thesis sheds light on postfire regeneration in Rhode Island

After a rare wildfire scorched part of southern Rhode Island, ENVS concentrator Diandra Polt ’25 saw a unique research opportunity. Her findings may help shape the region’s ecological future.

June 17, 2025 Canary Media

Anti-offshore wind groups target $426M grant for California port

IBES and Sociology Professor Timmons Roberts offered commentary on anti-wind activism.

June 16, 2025 Brown Alumni Magazine

Sustainability Pioneer

This obituary honors Professor Emeritus Harold Ward, an environmental studies elder beloved by students and colleagues.

June 9, 2025 News from IBES

IBES welcomes Christina Virgo as Associate Director of Administration and Finance

Virgo, an experienced higher-ed administrator, will oversee the Institute’s finances and operations in this multifaceted role.

June 9, 2025 Sierra Club

From Drought to Deluge: What the LA Fires and Hurricane Helene Have in Common

Sarah Gottlieb, a children’s science journalist, spoke to IBES Director Kim Cobb in the aftermath of the early 2025 Palisades Fire.

June 8, 2025 The Times of India

‘Colonialism impacted Africa’s animals — it disrupted traditions of respectful distance’

IBES Fellow and Professor of History Nancy Jacobs was interviewed about her research on the grey parrot.

June 5, 2025 Associated Press

Trump EPA rollbacks would weaken rules projected to save billions of dollars and thousands of lives

IBES affiliate Cory Zigler, a professor of biostatistics, offered commentary on the effects of a wide-ranging rollback of environmental regulations, asserting that “more of this type of pollution that we know kills people will be in the air.”

June 4, 2025 Grist

A world built on fossil fuels is loud. Here’s how advocates are defending peace and quiet.

IBES affiliate Erica Walker, an assistant professor of epidemiology and founder of the Community Noise Lab at Brown’s School of Public Health, was interviewed about her noise pollution research.

June 4, 2025 Jackson Advocate

Brown University research group installs air and noise pollution sensors across Mississippi and Alabama

The Community Noise Lab, led by IBES affiliate Erica Walker in the School of Public Health, recently launched a rotating environmental monitoring network to measure a variety of pollutants, meteorological conditions, and noise levels in the Southern United States.

June 3, 2025 News from IBES

Commencement 2025: IBES launches the next cohort of climate leaders

Filled with warmth and purpose, this year’s celebration featured powerful programmatic additions and carried momentum through the passion of over 50 new graduates.

June 2, 2025 News from Brown

Air-quality monitoring underestimates toxic emissions to Salton Sea communities, study finds

Researchers showed that hydrogen sulfide, which is associated with numerous health conditions, is emitted from California’s largest lake at levels far higher and more frequently than previously reported.

May 30, 2025 The Wall Street Journal

Behold, a Climate-Tech Venture Fund Closed in 2025

Planeteer Capital, a venture firm led by ENVS alumna Sophie Purdom '16, defied the odds this year by closing a $54 million first-time fund to invest in climate-tech startups.

May 29, 2025 Frontiers in Climate

When boundaries are blurred: infrastructure needs in support of the climate displaced

Article coauthor Jennifer Hadden, an IBES affiliate at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, proposes a framework for understanding the basic infrastructure needs of people displaced by climate change during four phases: initiation, mobilization, pause and settle.

May 26, 2025 The Boston Globe

A new Brown University center is exploring how climate, environment, and human health intersect

IBES Fellow Joseph Braun – a professor of epidemiology and director of the Center for Climate, Environment & Health – spoke about the new center's research and whether the current presidential administration could affect its work.

May 26, 2025 The Atlantic

A New Concept for Fighting Climate Change

IBES Fellow Elizabeth Rush, an assistant professor of the practice in the Department of English, penned this book review.

May 21, 2025 EcoRI News

What’s Old Is New Again: Age-Old Practice of Composting Gains Traction in R.I.

IBES Professor Stephen Porder offered commentary for this article.

May 20, 2025 The Guardian

Oil industry funded Girl Scouts and British Museum to boost image, evidence suggests

Visiting IBES Professor Robert Brulle offered commentary on “affinity of purpose advertising.”

May 20, 2025 USA Today

A new generation makes a career out of saving the planet

IBES Director Kim Cobb and alumna Ann Garth '20 offered commentary for this article.

May 19, 2025 News from IBES

How to solve the carbon challenge? Ask Brown students

Through a semester-long project, students in EEPS/ENVS 0360 partner with community stakeholders to implement carbon reduction strategies.

May 15, 2025 Science News

Cryopreservation is not sci-fi. It may save plants from extinction

This article features insights from IBES affiliate Xan Chacko, a lecturer in science, technology, and society and an expert on the history of biodiversity conservation.

May 14, 2025 NBC News

Chimps use medicinal plants to treat their wounds

This article features research from incoming Voss Postdoctoral Research Associate Elodie Freymann '18.

May 12, 2025 News from Watson

Student Spotlight: Charlie Adams ’25

Senior International and Public Affairs and environmental science concentrator Charlie Adams, who graduates this month, grew up around policy and politics. Naturally, he found himself at home in the Watson Institute's International and Public Affairs (IAPA) concentration.

May 9, 2025 Carbon Radio

What is Sustainability? A biogeochemical perspective

IBES and Biology Professor Stephen Porder outlined critical dynamics and challenges related to energy, food, and water as a featured guest on this podcast.

May 8, 2025 Nature Cities

Land subsidence risk to infrastructure in US metropolises

IBES Postdoc Sonam Futi Sherpa contributed to this study, which finds that all of the 28 most populous U.S. cities are sinking.

May 6, 2025 News from IBES

Spring 2025 at IBES: Sparking conversations, advancing solutions

Climate conversations came to life at IBES this semester as thought leaders, students, and changemakers gathered to exchange ideas, share stories, and shape real-world solutions.

May 5, 2025 Los Angeles Review of Books

The Teeming Earth

IBES and History Associate Professor Bathsheba Demuth reviewed Ferris Jabr’s “Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life.”

May 3, 2025 Los Angeles Review of Books

Listening to the Nonhuman World: On Including Other Life-Forms in Politics

This article considers recent books on the political rights of nonhuman beings, including “Eco-Emancipation: An Earthly Politics of Freedom” by Sharon Krause, an IBES affiliate and professor of political science.

May 1, 2025 The Brown Daily Herald

‘Honored and humbled’: Eight Brown faculty members elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

IBES Director Kim Cobb is among the eight Brown faculty members elected to the AAAS.

May 1, 2025 News from IBES

Meet Voss Fellow Yoshihiro Yajima ’25: Toads, land development, and the future of biodiversity

Yajima explores how farming and development are reshaping toad breeding patterns, uncovering key insights into the broader impact on natural habitats.

April 29, 2025 News from Brown

New center at Brown to study the intersection of climate, environment and human health

During a campus conversation to celebrate the launch of the Center for Climate, Environment and Health, panelists explored the impacts of climate change on human health and the research that will drive life-saving solutions.

April 28, 2025 News from IBES

With new working groups, Equitable Climate Futures fosters stronger communities through research

Four recently awarded working groups bring a new, interdisciplinary, and engaged approach to climate solutions.

April 27, 2025 The Public's Radio

How climate change will affect Rhode Island’s drinking water, and how we can better prepare

IBES Fellow Baylor Fox-Kemper discussed how climate change impacts the ocean and how Rhode Island communities can better prepare for conditions that could negatively impact water utilities.

April 25, 2025 The Brown Daily Herald

Environmental studies pioneer, UEL driving force, master tomato gardener: Remembering Harold Ward, chemistry and environmental studies professor

Harold Ward, the father of the environmental studies program at Brown, passed away on in December 2024 at the age of 89.

April 24, 2025 Brown Division of Research

News Archive