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Porder awarded Fulbright-Tocqueville Distinguished Chair
Assistant Provost for Sustainability, and Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology & Environment and Society Stephen Porder has been named Fulbright-Tocqueville Distinguished Chair for the Fall 2020 semester.
March 4, 2020
News from Brown
Letter from President Paxson: Brown’s actions on climate change
President Christina H. Paxson wrote to the campus community on March 4 with an update on Brown’s efforts to confront climate change through net-zero GHG initiatives, halting investments in fossil fuel extraction in the University’s endowment and other efforts.
February 25, 2020
News from Brown
Big data could yield big discoveries in archaeology, Brown scholar says
Parker VanValkenburgh, an assistant professor of anthropology, curated a journal issue that explores the opportunities and challenges big data could bring to the field of archaeology.
Meredith Hastings appointed deputy director of IBES
Meredith K. Hastings, Associate Professor of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences & Environment and Society, has agreed to serve as deputy director of IBES, effective July 1, 2020.
Dov Sax appointed interim director of IBES
Dov F. Sax, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology & Environment and Society, has agreed to serve as interim director of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society (IBES), effective July 1, 2020.
IBES, and Former EPA Director Spalding highlighted in The Boston Globe
‘With so much coast and so little land, R.I. is the most vulnerable state in New England’
Curt Spalding, the former EPA regional director who’s now at Brown, researches how communities can respond to climate change.
Students visit Arctic in pioneering Wintersession course
IBES Director Amanda Lynch has always wanted to take students to the Arctic. And last month, she finally got the opportunity.
IBES fellow Joe Braun appointed Director of Center for Environmental Health and Technology
December 17, 2019
News from Brown
Climate change legislation, media coverage drives ad spending by oil companies, study finds
An analysis led by an Institute at Brown for Environment and Society visiting professor found that oil companies ramp up advertising campaigns when they face negative media coverage or new regulations.
A Major but Little-Known Supporter of Climate Denial: Freight Railroads
For nearly 30 years, America’s four biggest rail companies—which move the majority of the country’s coal—have spent millions to deny climate science and block climate policy.
73-page CDL report shows decades of policy interference, unambitious climate plans, by 10 utilities
Brown Climate and Development Lab brings new wave of climate change countermovement research to DC policymakers, activists
November 26, 2019
News from Brown
Where will we go when the water rises? Computer models may hold answers, research says
Computer models focused on current and potential policy decisions could help shed light on the future of migration caused by sea level rise, concluded a team of scholars that included Brown demographer Elizabeth Fussell.
November 4, 2019
News from Brown
Study of African animals illuminates links between environment, diet and gut microbiome
New research analyzing the diets and microbiomes of 33 large-herbivore species in Kenya yields surprising findings about the interplay between animal evolution, behavior and the gut microbiome.
Institute releases 2019 issue of Earth Matters
The Institute at Brown for Environment and Society is pleased to announce the release of its latest edition of Earth Matters.
October 16, 2019
News from Brown
Galapagos sea life study highlights importance of biodiversity in the face of climate change
Study of wave turbulence suggests that highly mobile species and more diverse ecological communities may be more resilient to the effects of changing environmental conditions.
Mara Dolan '19.5 highlights climate justice and feminism in Teen Vogue
Senior IBES concentrator Mara Dolan has authored a piece about the intersection of feminism and climate justice in this month's Teen Vogue.
IBES is 'A Natural Fit': Apple Exec Kate Adams discusses Brown's distinctiveness, and the Institute's perfect niche
Attorney Kate Adams '86 has an impressive resume. Among other roles, she has been law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, trial attorney for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, partner at Sidley Austin LLP in New York, and senior vice president and general counsel of Honeywell, Inc.
New study shows Rhode Island emissions are 45% higher than expected – and charts a path to state-wide decarbonization
The study shows that emissions can feasibly be reduced by as much as 80% over the next one to two decades.
Greg Wellenius Appointed Core Fellow at IBES
Associate Professor of Epidemiology Gregory Wellenius has been appointed a core fellow at the Institute.
Unearthing Peru's Colonial Past: Archaeologist digs up new perspectives on indigenous history
Populations and their surrounding environments are often inextricably intertwined. But what happens under colonial rule, when powerful empires try to override this complex relationship?
Stay, or Leave? Population scientist explores hurricanes' impacts on migration
In the United States, waterfront locales have long been seen as desirable places to live. And, thanks to years of investments in adaptation to coastal storms, they have remained relatively safe as well.
Introducing: Daniel Ibarra
Climate scientist and geochemist Daniel Enrique Ibarra knows just how vital water is to both natural and social ecosystems.
Introducing: Rachel Wetts
Climate change is widely considered one of the most alarming and urgent concerns of our time, but the United States has been slow to take meaningful action to address it.
The Ecology of Empire: Historian traces China's environmental transformation
Five thousand years ago, China was a very different place: a landscape of forests, grasslands and wetlands that were home to a diverse body of wildlife. It is now home to so many people that it is difficult to imagine the rhinos, elephants, and alligators that once lived there.
Introducing: Laurence C. Smith
Thanks to its outsized effect on high latitudes, climate change is already causing substantial alterations in the Arctic physical environment.
PhD student Ethan Kyzivat awarded NASA fellowship
IBES graduate affiliate Ethan Kyzivat has been awarded a Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) fellowship for his work mapping small bodies of water and investigating their impact on methane emissions.
Moustafa awarded professional development fellow in the geospatial sciences
Visiting Assistant Professor of Environment and Society Samiah Moustafa has been recognized this week as a 2019 Fellow of TRELIS, a professional development arm of the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science.
Introducing: Myles Lennon
Myles Lennon, a former Brown undergraduate, returns to campus this fall—this time, as an IBES fellow and Dean's Assistant Professor of Environment and Society and Anthropology.
Untangling the Web of Life: Institute biologist investigates how species interact, and why
On the wall above Tyler Kartzinel's desk hangs a picture of a giraffe, hand-drawn for him in black and white by former undergraduate mentee Julianna Hsing, now a graduate student at Stanford University. But there is more to the illustration than meets the eye.
Wisdom in Arctic Waters: Pioneering geoscientist to unearth secrets buried in sediment
Five thousand miles northwest of College Hill, a series of Alaskan lakes have attracted the attention of expert geochemist Yongsong Huang. The sediments found deep in these waters are the oldest in the region, and may contain clues to the planet's—and humanity's—past and future.
Submit questions to the IBES podcast Possibly!
Ever wonder how the everyday decisions you make impact the planet, and what your best options are for sustainable living?
July 15, 2019
News from Brown
World’s island conifers threatened with extinction from climate change
By estimating climate conditions in which conifer species could thrive if they needed to, a new study identifies which species are at extinction risk due to climate change.
July 15, 2019
News from Brown
Students, faculty at IBES take on sustainability topics with radio segments, podcast
In “Possibly,” available online and airing on the Public’s Radio every Tuesday, Brown undergraduates track down answers to Rhode Islanders’ questions about sustainability.
Shifting Ice and Ways of Life: Novel Institute team invites local perspectives on ice melt
Scientists know that sea ice in the Arctic Ocean has been shrinking dramatically over the past few decades; but the behavior of shorefast ice, the ice that forms within Arctic fjords, has been less well-understood.
Director Lynch appointed to advisory board of World Meteorological Organization
Effective immediately, IBES Director Amanda Lynch has been appointed to the Scientific Advisory Panel, the peak advising body of the World Meteorological Organization.
June 17, 2019
News from Brown
Cold weather increases the risk of fatal opioid overdoses, study finds
While the precise reasons are unclear, an analysis of overdose deaths in Rhode Island and Connecticut showed that cold snaps raised the risk of fatal opioid overdoses by 25 percent.
Goldstein snow research makes Top 20 in well-known water journal
Water and life from snow: A trillion dollar science question, a paper published in Water Resources Research by Visiting Scholar in Environment and Society Michael Goldstein, has been recognized as one of the journal's top downloaded papers.
To see how invading predators change an ecosystem, watch the prey, say researchers
IBES students head for Fulbrights
Two IBES-affiliated seniors and one recent alumna have been awarded Fulbright Scholarships for the upcoming year, embodying Brown's tradition of being the top Fulbright-producing university in the country.
Arctic economist and finance expert Goldstein to join IBES
Michael Goldstein, Donald P. Babson Professor of Applied Investments at Babson College, is joining IBES as a Visiting Scholar in Environment and Society.
"Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore" announced as Pulitzer Prize finalist
Rising: Dispatches From the New American Shore, by IBES affiliate fellow Elizabeth Rush, is a Pulitzer Prize finalist in General Nonfiction this year.
IBES Seeks Postdoctoral Research Associate in Arctic Climate System Modeling
April 10-12: IBES Presents "Blue Sky: Agility and the Possible in a Warming World"
March 6, 2019
News from Brown
Migrating snowline plays outsized role in setting pace of Greenland ice melt
Meltwater from Greenland’s ice sheet is a leading contributor to global sea level rise, and a Brown University study shows that an underappreciated factor — the position of the snowline on the ice sheet — plays a key role in setting the pace of melting.
Providence's climate change future captured in documentary by Brown undergrad
Last month, a group of 75 business and civic leaders met at Brown University to hear from local scholars about the climate crises facing the city of Providence in the coming years.
Lynch and Veland discuss Urgency in the Anthropocene on new podcast
IBES Director Amanda Lynch and former visiting fellow Siri Veland discuss their new book Urgency in the Anthropocene on Rice University's podcast, Cultures of Energy.
February 14, 2019
News from Brown
Tiny satellites reveal water dynamics in thousands of northern lakes
In a finding that has implications for how scientists calculate natural greenhouse gas emissions, a new study finds that water levels in small lakes across northern Canada and Alaska vary during the summer much more than was assumed.