From the Institute Interim Executive Director

The start of a new academic year is always energizing. Campus is buzzing with new and returning students, faculty are back in the classrooms and labs, calendars are packed with academic, cultural, athletic, and other activities — all against the backdrop of New England's iconic fall colors.
 

At the Irving Institute, we're particularly excited for our first fall term in our beautiful new home in Dartmouth's West End Innovation District. It's been wonderful to welcome back old friends and introduce new students and faculty to the inspiring, innovative, and high-impact activity happening in Dartmouth's energy, climate, and sustainability community.
 

The fall 2022 term comes on the heels of an historic moment for energy and climate in the US. The recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act represents an unprecedented investment in the transformation of our energy systems and an important milestone in the fight to keep global temperatures from rising.

This is only a first step, but it's a big one. And there's plenty left to do. The challenges of the energy transition are complex and much bigger than one institute or college can take on alone. Dartmouth, with its strengths in interdisciplinary research and teaching, has an important role to play. As the Irving Institute launches three new strategic research, education, and engagement hubs around themes of energy equity and social impact; policy and technology innovation; and strategic partnerships this fall, the work we are doing at Dartmouth can support and amplify the bill's ambitious efforts.

This is such an exciting and hopeful time. We will be hosting a number of open house and welcoming events this year. Whether you attend an event or just stop by the Institute, we encourage you to find out more about how you can be a part of Dartmouth's energy community and help advance more sustainable, reliable, and affordable energy futures for all.

~ April M. Salas
 

Irving Institute Announces Faculty Advisory Board

Dartmouth Class of 1972 Endows Irving Institute Speaker Series

In 1969 when the Dartmouth Class of 1972 began their college careers, the nation and the world were in a state of flux. Against a backdrop of unprecedented economic growth and advances in technology, transportation and medicine, those four years were among the most tumultuous and transformative in American history, paving the way for a modern era that in many ways bore very little resemblance to the country their parents and grandparents had known.

And so, when considering a class reunion gift to mark their milestone 50th reunion in 2022, the Class of 1972 raised funds to endow a speaker series to be hosted by the Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society that would address two of the great issues of our current, similarly tumultuous time: climate and energy.

The series launched in June with a talk by Dr. William Schlesinger ’72, President Emeritus, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies and former Dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University, called "The Energy-Climate Nexus: Is There a Pathway to a Sustainable Biosphere?" (View a recording of the talk here.) The next talk, by Chair and CEO of SC Johnson, Fisk Johnson, will take place in early November.

Upcoming Events

Video: Catch Up on These Recent Dartmouth Energy Talks

"Unpacking the IRA: What Will the Inflation Reduction Act Mean for Climate and the Energy Transition?" with panelists Alexis Abramson (Dean, Thayer School of Engineering), Klaus Keller (Hodgson Distinguished Professor of Engineering), Erich Osterberg (Associate Professor of Earth Sciences), and Anant Sundaram (Clinical Professor of Business Administration, Tuck School of Business)
 

"Lithium-ion Battery Material Circularity: Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, and Recycle" with Jessica Dunn, Senior Analyst, Union of Concerned Scientists

Dartmouth Energy News

Dartmouth Engineering Awarded DOE Funding for Clean Energy Research: The funding is part of the more than $540 million in awards from DOE for university- and National Laboratory-led research into clean energy technologies and low-carbon manufacturing.

Drilling of Geothermal Test Wells to Begin Week of Sept. 26: As part of its transition to a noncombustion energy future, Dartmouth will drill test wells in four locations beginning next week to test each site’s viability as a future geothermal well field.

Don't Get Left Behind, New Hampshire: Interim Executive Director April Salas co-authors an opinion piece about the opportunities the Inflation Reduction Act offers for a zero-emissions clean energy economy in New Hampshire.

Drs. Maron Greenleaf and Sarah Kelly Receive 2022 Apgar Award for Innovation in Teaching: Teaching team awarded for their work on the Environmental Justice course

Cannabis Industry Inches Toward Sustainability: Stephen Doig ’82, Irving Institute Senior Research and Strategy Adviser, discusses a recent Dartmouth study that found the cannabis industry could become much more energy efficient.

Expansion of Clean Energy Loans Is ‘Sleeping Giant’ of Climate Bill: Dan Reicher ’78 is quoted in this NYT piece on the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act

Geography Professor Justin Mankin and Christopher Callahan Guarini ’23's first-of-its-kind study assessing the economic impacts that individual countries have caused to other countries through their contributions to global warming was featured in The World  and CNN.

Kudos to Institute collaborator Meredith Kelly who was recently promoted to full professor of Earth Sciences and honored with the John M. Manley Huntington Award for Newly Promoted Faculty tenure.

Upper Valley Leadership Academy Focuses on Local Solutions to Climate Change: Earth Sciences Professor and Institute Faculty Advisory Board Member Erich Osterberg was interviewed on his work with the Climate Change Leadership Academy.

Dartmouth Engineering Students Conduct First-of-its-Kind Independent Study on Energy Efficiency in Cannabis Cultivation: Thayer Engineering ENGS 89/90 students under the advisement of Institute Senior Research and Strategy Advisor Stephen Doig ’82, recently announced the results of the first-ever independent study on energy efficiency in the cannabis industry.

Princeton: Solar Deployment to Increase Fivefold Under Inflation Reduction Act: Hodgson Family Assistant Professor of Engineering Erin Mayfield collaborated with Princeton University and other research groups to produce a Rapid Energy Policy Evaluation and Analysis Toolkit (REPEAT) around the Inflation Reduction Act to assess the bill's potential impact.

Make Greenhouse-Gas Accounting Reliable — Build Interoperable Systems: Myers Family Professor of Environmental Science Ross Virginia co-authored a piece in Nature outlining a vision for building interoperable accounting measures across global sectors to more effectively and accurately measure progress in greenhouse-gas reductions.

Career Explorations and Opportunities: Gavin Fry ’25 wrote about his experience doing an Irving Institute mini-grant funded research project in a recent Dartmouth Admissions blog.