March 2023

From the Institute Executive Director

The Irving Institute team was thrilled to lead a delegation of Dartmouth faculty, staff, and students to Houston, TX at the start of March for CERAWeek 2023, one of the world's largest climate/energy conferences. The conference offered us a wonderful opportunity to connect with the many Dartmouth energy alumni experts who participated on panels, joined our informal evening meet-up early in the week, or just said hello at and in between sessions throughout the week. It also gave us a unique and powerful glimpse into how industry and government leaders from around the country and the world are thinking about critical topics like energy security and emerging energy technologies that we can incorporate into our own thinking and planning at Dartmouth. We're looking forward to nurturing the connections made and integrating the knowledge gained at CERAWeek as we continue to support Dartmouth's efforts to lead in energy and climate research, teaching, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

New Ideas and New Connections: Dartmouth at CERAWeek ’23

Some members of the Dartmouth delegation pose with Dartmouth alumni attending CERAWeek. Front [L-R] Haila Asanaenyi ’02, Liana Frey ’92, TU’98 (Irving Institute Senior Fellow), Madeleine Bothe (Assistant Director, Program Management and Center Operations, Revers Center for Energy, Sustainability and Innovation), April Salas (Irving Institute Executive Director), Vanessa Pinney ’22, TH’23, Angelika Hofmann (Irving Institute Senior Associate Director, Environmental and Physical Sciences Grant Support), Tammy Heesakker (Senior Business Development and Licensing Manager, Dartmouth Tech Transfer Office); Back [L-R] Jamie Coughlin (Director, Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship), Brian Morrison ’21, Will Frazier ’78, David Krause D'93 Th'94, Mukul Sharma (Professor of Earth Sciences)

In early March, the Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society led a group of Dartmouth faculty, students, and staff from the Revers Center for Energy, Sustainability, and Innovation at Tuck, the Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship, and the Office of Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer, to CERAWeek ’23, one of the world's most significant climate and energy conferences for industry and government leaders. In addition to helping foreground the College's expertise on energy and climate, and connecting and reconnecting with alumni and friends across the energy and climate sector, the delegation also gathered new insights into the energy and climate challenges and solutions on the horizon to help feed back into research, teaching, and entrepreneurship happening on campus.

Read more

Natural Resources, Health, and Local Economies in Appalachia

Nine Dartmouth undergraduate students and staff from the Irving Institute and Dartmouth Sustainability Office spent spring break ’23 learning about the past, present, and future of energy in Appalachia. The spring Energy Immersion Trip gave students a chance to understand energy systems in West Virginia from a wide range of perspectives, meeting with staff from the National Energy Technology Lab (NETL) in Morgantown, outdoor industry experts, workers employed in the natural gas and coal industries, as well as community members working to mitigate the impact that those industries have had on the land. On their way back north to Hanover, the group also spent a day in Washington, DC, talking with policymakers to get a legislative perspective on energy and society in Appalachia. We'll share a more in-depth reflection on the trip in next month's newsletter; in the meantime, images and stories from the trip are posted on the Institute's Instagram.

The Irving Institute is Coming to San Francisco...

The Irving Institute will be hosting our external Advisory Board meeting in San Francisco in early May, and we would love to connect with our Bay Area alumni! Join our team, Advisory Board, and other Dartmouth representatives for an Alumni Reception in San Francisco on May 4 from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. at INSEAD (224 Townsend Street). You'll get a chance to learn more about Dartmouth's newest institute as well as the College's expanding initiatives, programs, and leadership in energy, climate, and sustainability; hear about Dartmouth's newly launched West End Innovation District; and discover how Dartmouth is advancing research, teaching, learning, and innovation to support a sustainable future for all. Plus you'll have a chance to connect with other Bay Area alumni working in energy, climate, and sustainability. Light refreshments will be served. Please let us know if you can make it!

... and Washington, DC!

Institute to Co-Sponsor Speculative Fiction Anthology Project

The Irving Institute is proud to be a co-sponsor of an exciting new effort, Speculation by Design: The Dartmouth Speculative Fiction Project. This interdisciplinary collaboration, spearheaded by the Design Initiative at Dartmouth (DIAD) brings together interdisciplinary teams of writers with researchers to envision humanity’s possible futures—through the lens of academic research at Dartmouth. Additionally, student writers will be invited to submit short pieces for potential inclusion in the anthology. The Institute will help advise students on energy and climate science and connect them with experts. The project kicks off in April with a series of workshops and public readings. "There is a critical role for imagination in the work to advance more sustainable and equitable futures," said Amanda Graham, Irving Institute Academic Director, "and the Institute is thrilled to support this groundbreaking and inspiring project."

Read the press release about the project

Guest Teach an Undergraduate Engineering Course

Dartmouth Engineering is seeking alumni guest lecturers (or visiting faculty) for new undergraduate engineering courses!

The Thayer School welcomes proposals for a 10-week course, taught during an academic term of your choice, with a focus on engineering topics accessible to a wider Dartmouth student audience, particularly non-engineering majors.

Some of Thayer's most engaging introductory courses have been taught by alumni and industry leaders with real-life experience and unique perspectives. As an alum, you have an opportunity to turn expertise into meaningful education and introduce students to the creative, fun, and human-centered aspects of engineering.

Learn more and submit your proposal

Upcoming Public Events

April 12  12-1 p.m. ET

New Energy Series: "Energy Justice from Below: The Role of Artivisms from the Sacrifice Zones for a Situated Political Ecology of the Energy Transition. Insights from La Guajira, Colombia and the Argentinian Patagonia" with Azucena Castro, postdoctoral researcher, Stockholm University and Stanford University

April 26 | 12-1 p.m. ET
New Energy Series: "Powering Up the Green Supply Chains: The Sustainability Chain Governance and the Marketization of Renewable Energy in Taiwan" with Ker-hsuan Chien, Assistant Professor, National Tsing Hua University

May 10 | 12 -1 p.m. ET

New Energy Series: "In the Vault: The roles of Green Banks in the Transition to Net Zero Emissions. Case Studies of Australia, New Zealand and the United States," with Chell Lyons, Australian National University

Dartmouth Energy News

Tuck Professors Co-edit First Handbook on Business and Climate Change: Tuck professors Robert Hansen and Anant Sundaram recently published a book featuring chapters from 41 authors (including Institute Advisory Board Chair Scott Fisher '93, TH'93, TU'98) from academia, business, government, and NGOs.

‘On Thin Ice’: World About To Pass Critical Temperature Threshold, UN Warns: A recent Forbes articles cites climate impact research from Geography Professor Justin Mankin and Christopher Callahan GR’23.

DOE Funding Promotes the Production of Plant-Based Fuels and Chemicals: Dartmouth College is a partner in the Center for Bioenergy Innovation, headed by Oak Ridge National Lab, which recently received $590 million from the US Department of Energy to develop non-food biomass fuels to decarbonize the aviation sector.

Q&A with Climate Researcher Christopher Callahan GR ’23: The Dartmouth student newspaper catches up with Institute collaborator and Dartmouth Climate Modeling and Impacts Group researcher Chris Callahan GR’23

Announcing the 2023 Social Justice Awardees: Earth Sciences Professor and Institute Affiliate Meredith Kelly has been awarded Dartmouth's Holly Fell Sateia Award for Social Justice for her work on climate change.

'Reading the Rocks' to Illuminate Earth's History: Associate Professor of Earth Sciences and Institute Affiliate Justin Strauss is in the spotlight in this recent Q&A about his research.

Arts Integration Initiative Supports Innovative Research: Assistant Professor of Anthropology Maron Greenleaf and Irving Institute Research Associate and Geography Postdoctoral Scholar Sarah Kelly recently received a Dartmouth Arts Integration Initiative grant to support their project, "Envisioning and Enabling a Just Energy Transition in the Upper Valley."

A Long-Sought Loss and Damage Deal Was Finalized at COP27. Now, the Hard Work Begins: Associate Professor of Geography Justin Mankin, whose research on climate change impacts has helped informed negotiations on compensating nations disproportionately harmed by climate change, is quoted extensively in this Inside Climate News article.

How Commerce Can Save the Climate: Tuck School of Business Dean Matt Slaughter co-authors this recent Foreign Affairs piece.