From the Institute Executive Director

While we're only a few weeks into the new calendar year, January has already been a busy month for the Irving Institute, full of events, programs, gatherings, meetings, and more. I'm particularly excited about a new program we launched this month, Energy Currents.

This in-person discussion series is aimed at undergraduates new to the energy and climate space. Each week, participants gather in the beautiful Institute Project Hub, enjoy some pizza, and explore energy and climate in the context of current events. With the help of campus experts, we've talked about topics like the Inflation Reduction Act and the COP27 UN climate summit, using them as a foundation upon which to build some basic fluency in energy and climate. I'm excited about this program not just because I'll get to lead a session in February on Community Power and Energy Justice — topics about which I'm very passionate! — but because it's such a wonderful opportunity to introduce students who are still exploring their academic and professional options for all the ways that they can be involved in advancing a just and sustainable energy future. Energy Currents is casual, welcoming, and fun by design — and we're hopeful that many of the participants will go on to further engage with the Institute and energy at Dartmouth during the coming months and years.

We hope you, too, will find ways to engage with us during 2023, and we look forward to seeing you at an upcoming program or in our beautiful building in Dartmouth's West End Innovation District.

~ April M. Salas

Experiential Learning in Energy Country

In December 2022, after a more than three-year pandemic-related pause, twelve Dartmouth undergraduate students and several Dartmouth staff members hit the road to explore energy and society in the US Gulf Coast as part of the Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society's and Dartmouth Sustainability Office's Energy Immersion Trip program. Over the course of ten days in Texas and Louisiana, the group visited museums, toured energy production facilities, took boat and bike trips, and engaged in formal and informal discussions with experts, practitioners, and many Dartmouth alumni, experiencing first-hand the rich and various aspects of energy in the region. Read more.

Institute Student Grants Support Six Energy, Climate, and Society Related Activities

The Irving Institute offers grants up to $5,000 for enrolled undergraduate and graduate students who are advancing the Institute's mission of transforming humankind's understanding of energy and climate issues, and driving the creation of ideas, technologies, and policies that improve the availability and efficient use of energy for all people. Four students — Alyssa Pantaleo, Thayer PhD student; Tejaswini Chatty, Thayer PhD student; Adriana Patricia Fajardo Mazorra, a graduate student in the MALS program; and Solange Acosta-Rodriguez '24 — received student grant funding during fall 2022. In addition, the Institute helped support two social and environmental justice grants with the Department of Philosophy. Recipients of those grants were Nadine Lorini Formiga '25 and Katherine Glance '23. Read more.

Winter Bootcamp Introduces Students to the Economics of the Clean Energy Transition

What techniques are used to bring clean energy to markets? How do we best evaluate the financial viability of clean energy opportunities? What are some key opportunities and challenges that we face in transitioning to clean energy systems? On Friday and Saturday, January 27-28, Dartmouth undergraduate students had the chance to explore the answers to these and other questions with guest expert Curtis Probst, CEO of the NYC Energy Efficiency Corporation, as part of the Irving Institute's Clean Energy Finance Bootcamp. The bootcamp, which returned this year after a highly successful launch in winter 2022, gave 16 participants the chance to gain skills and insights into this critical topic. Through lectures, interactive discussions, role-playing, and hands-on assignments, the group dug deeply into the role of finance in the clean energy transition. Learn more.

Women in Energy Lunch Series to Launch in 2023

Stina Brock ’01, TH’02 and the Irving Institute for Energy and Society are planning to launch a new, online monthly lunchtime series featuring Dartmouth alumnae in energy. Each session will feature an alumna talking about her perspectives and experiences in the energy industry and will offer other participants the chance to learn from and connect with each other. If you are interested in attending the series, please sign up for the event mailing list!

Opening: Manager of Building Engagement and Operations

Upcoming Events

Dartmouth Energy News

New Study Reveals Arctic Ice, Tracked Both Above and Below, Is Freezing Later: Engineering Professor and Irving Institute Affiliate Donald Perovich is one of five authors of a study tracking the impact of climate change on Arctic ice.

Bridge Builder: Hodgson Distinguished Professor of Engineering and Irving Institute Faculty Advisory Board member Klaus Keller was recently profiled by the Thayer School of Engineering News.

Rising Energy Prices in the Fight to Stay Warm: Dartmouth Energy Justice Clinic members Emily Henrich ’22, Lena Kufferman ’25, and Gwendolyn Roland ’25 discuss their research on how high energy prices impact Dartmouth graduate students in a recent issue of The Dartmouth.

Nearly Nonexistent January Snowfall Impacts Environment, Disrupts Winter Traditions: Associate Professor of Earth Sciences and Irving Institute Faculty Advisory Board Member Erich Osterberg is quoted in this recent The Dartmouth article on the impacts of a changing climate in the Upper Valley.

Rose Mutiso Discusses Africa's Energy Transition: Irving Institute Advisory Board member Rose Mutiso ’08, TH’08 talks about energy and Africa on The African Climate Conversation.

The 'Sleeping Giant of Energy Storage' is Waking Up: Irving Institute Advisory Board member Dan Reicher ’78 is quoted extensively in this recent Forbes piece on the potential of pumped storage systems.