May News from Dartmouth's Irving Institute for Energy and Society

Spring Term Overview, Faculty and Student Grant Announcements, and More

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From the Institute Executive Director

The rapidly approaching end of spring term brings with it a flurry of activity here on campus, from thesis and capstone presentations to Green Key Weekend and Commencement. It's a busy and festive time. It's also a little bittersweet as we prepare to say farewell to the incredible students we have had the privilege to get to know and work with over the past four years.

Commence, of course, means to begin, and as hard as it can be to say goodbye, it's thrilling to watch our new grads head out into the world and start their lives as Dartmouth alumni. Having had multiple opportunities to reconnect with and meet so many Dartmouth alums this spring, in Houston at CERAWeek23 in March and at receptions in San Francisco and in Washington, DC in early May, I was excited and inspired by the positive impact they are having on our world.

Our alumni are not only committed to advancing affordable, sustainable, and reliable energy futures for all, but also to supporting and staying engaged with Dartmouth. I and the whole Institute team are so excited to see what our newest alums will do next, and whether it's on campus or at our next alumni gathering on the road, we hope it won't be too long before we meet again.

~ April M. Salas

On Campus and On the Road: Irving Institute Spring 2023 Highlights

Spring 2023 marks our first full year in our beautiful, new, highly efficient home in the heart of Dartmouth's West End Innovation District, and what a year it has been! The spring '23 term in particular was filled with a wide range of activities for the Irving Institute, from experiential learning trips to on-campus bootcamps, talks, and celebrations. Check out some highlights from our very busy spring term!

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Two Dartmouth Energy Faculty Receive NSF CAREER Awards

Caitlin Hicks Pries and Weiyang "Fiona" Li

Two Dartmouth faculty members and Institute Affiliates, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences Caitlin Hicks Pries and William P. Harris Career Development Assistant Professor of Engineering and Weiyang ("Fiona") Li, have recently received the National Science Foundation's (NSF) CAREER Award. The CAREER Award supports early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization. You can read about Professor Hicks Pries' award here and Professor Li's award here.

Institute to Relaunch Seed Grant and Pilot Funding Program in Fall 2023

Interim Grant Awardees (L-R): Robert McLellan, Sarah C. Crockett, W. Carl Cooley, Cheryl E. Anderson; Lee Lynd, Michelle Wang, Caitlin Hicks Pries; Shevaun Mizrahi

The Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society is pleased to announce that it will relaunch its Seed Grant and Pilot Funding Program at the start of the fall 2023 term. The program supports collaborative, innovative research, education, and engagement projects at Dartmouth College that advance affordable, reliable energy for all; a sustainable and just energy transition; climate solutions; and/or resilient and healthy communities.

While the Seed Grant Program was being reconfigured over the last year, the Institute was able to provide interim funding to the following climate- and energy-focused projects:

•	Climate-informed Pediatric Care – An Improvement Project for Pediatric Primary Care — PI: Robert McClellan, Professor, Active Emeritus, The Dartmouth Institute; co-PIs: W. Carl Cooley; Sarah Crockett, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine; and Erich Osterberg, Associate Professor of Earth Sciences
•	Soil Incubation Experiments for Cellulosic Biofuel Production — PIs: Caitlin Hicks Pries, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences and Lee Lynd, Paul E. and Joan H. Queneau Distinguished Professor of Engineering
•	Season's Calling: The Impacts of Climate Change in the Aegean (documentary film) — PI: Shevaun Mizrahi, Lecturer, Film and Media Studies

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Institute Funds Record Number of Student Grant Projects for Summer 2023

Irving Institute Summer '23 Student Grant Awardees: (Top L-R) Alexandra Farrnell '24, Anna Hugney ’24, Beam Lertbunnaphongs ’25, Richard Lytle ’24, Jack McMahon ’24; (Middle L-R) Ansh Motiani ’26, Lan Nguyen GR, Rujuta Pandit ’24, Vedang Puranik GR, Avery Widen ’25; (Bottom L-R) Joel Wilner GR, Kate Yeo '25, Emily Liu ’24. Not pictured: Jason Acosta Espinosa ’24, Baptiste Gibrat GR, Julia Huddy GR, Michael May GR, Vibhuv Reddy ’25, and Carter "Street" Roberts ’24

The Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society is excited to announce receiving a record number of summer 2023 Student Grant applications and has awarded 19 Dartmouth undergraduate and graduate students funding for a diverse range of climate and energy focused projects and experiences.

"We are delighted to see such strong growth in interest in energy, climate and society among Dartmouth students," said Irving Institute Academic Director Amanda Graham, "and are thrilled to be able to support such a wide range of projects and activities this summer."

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Dartmouth Energy News

Dam Nation: The Dartmouth Alumni Magazine profiles Institute Advisory Board member Dan Reicher's ’78 efforts to bring disparate stakeholders together in support of ecologically friendly hydroelectric power.

Mural in WRJ and Solarpunk: Art and Energy Meet: Artful, a local arts blog covers a mural project and Solarpunk art exhibit sponsored by Dartmouth's Energy Justice Clinic.

The Ghost of Ayn Rand as a Climate Activist? NH Consumer Advocate Don Kries reflects on a recent public talk by Rutgers Professor David McDermott Hughes co-hosted by the Irving Institute, Energy Justice Clinic, and Departments of Anthropology and Geography.

A Greenland Glacier’s Rapid Melting May Signal Faster Sea Level Rise: Thayer School Professor Hélène Seroussi is quoted in this Washington Post article.

Hartford Energy Fair: Looking to Energize the Upper Valley: Dartmouth Energy Justice Clinic members Ali Bauer ’25 and Camry Gach ’26 share their experiences at a local energy fair in April.

The Appalachia Energy Immersion Trip, Part One: Dartmouth ’26 Alex Campbell blogs about their experience on the Irving Institute's and Sustainability Office's spring break immersion trip for the Dartmouth Admissions website.

In Years After El Niño, Global Economy Loses Trillions: Dartmouth News covers a recent study from Assistant Professor of Geography and Irving Institute Affiliate Justin Mankin and Geography PhD candidate Chris Callahan identifying the long-term economic impacts of increasingly severe El Niño events. The study has received coverage in numerous media outlets, including the Washington Post.

Opinion: El Niño is Back. What Does That Mean For an Already Overheated California? Assistant Professor of Geography and Irving Institute Affiliate Justin Mankin and Geography PhD candidate Chris Callahan co-author an op-ed in the LA Times identifying ways that studying the economic impact of climate-change-fueled El Niño events can help inform adaptation and mitigation efforts.

New Hampshire's Climate Could Mimic the Mid-Atlantic by End of the Century: Dartmouth Associate Professor of Geography Jonathan Winter is quoted in this WMUR story about regional impacts of climate change.

Dartmouth’s Energy Production: Where We’ve Come From and Where We Still Need to Go: The Dartmouth student newspaper looks at the College's energy past and future. Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Energy Justice Clinic Co-Director, and Institute Affiliate Maron Greenleaf and Dartmouth Sustainability Director Rosi Kerr share their perspectives.

Baltic LEAP Foreign Study Program to Run for the First Time This Summer: Amanda Graham, Irving Institute Academic Director, is quoted in this piece from The Dartmouth about a new energy and government FSP launching this summer. The program is a collaboration between the Institute, and the Government and Russian Language Departments.

New Mural Painting Underway in Downtown White River Junction: NBC5 highlights the Energy Justice Clinic's collaboration with COVER Home Repair on a community mural in White River Junction.

Henrich: Community Art and the Pursuit of Energy Equity: Energy Justice Clinic member Emily Henrich ’22 pens an op-ed in The Dartmouth describing the ways that community art projects connect and empower communities in pursuit of energy justice.