From the Institute Executive Director

The rhythms of Dartmouth's summer term are different from fall, winter, and spring, but campus and the Irving Institute remain vibrant and busy. In addition to the Institute team using the summer term to review and refine our strategy and plan for the upcoming year, summer gives us the opportunity to connect with colleagues and friends who aren't usually on campus.

It's wonderful to welcome our alumni who are back in Hanover for reunions or vacation. We've had many visitors in recent weeks who have taken guided or self-guided tours of our beautiful building to learn more about the sustainable systems that make it one of the highest-performing spaces on campus and to learn more about what the Institute and our neighbors in the building and in the West End Innovation District are up to.

This summer, we are also hosting 20 early-career energy and climate researchers from institutions across the US and Canada — including two from Dartmouth — for our second annual New Energy Summer Summit. We're so pleased to be able to facilitate this gathering of up-and-coming energy and climate stars at Dartmouth and are excited to see how this growing network is making an impact on the world.

We hope you will stop by and say hello the next time you're in town, whether it's this summer or at any point in the year!
 

~ April M. Salas

Congratulations, Class of 2023!

It's the time of year when we say goodbye to our graduating students. This year, more than 1,200 Dartmouth undergraduates and another 800 graduate and professional school students received degrees at the College's June 11 Commencement Ceremony. The Irving Institute celebrated our energy-focused grads with a celebratory "senior dinner" in Hanover in late May, and many donned our special Irving Institute cords at the ceremony.

We also had the chance to catch up with three members of the Class of 2023 who have been deeply engaged with the Irving Institute and with energy at Dartmouth  to find out more about their time here, what they plan to do next, and what advice they have for incoming students who are exploring how they can connect with energy at Dartmouth.

Congratulations to all of our newest alumni! We hope it won't be too long before we see you again!

Institute Welcomes Two New Advisory Board Members

Stina Brock and Michael Hafner

The Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society is pleased to announce the addition of two new members to the Institute Advisory Board, Stina Brock ’01, TH’02 and Michael Hafner ’89, effective July 1, 2023.

"We are thrilled to welcome Stina and Michael to our external advisory board," said April Salas, Irving Institute Executive Director. "This expert board has world-class leaders that help the Institute realize its mission to advance a more affordable, sustainable and reliable energy future to benefit society. Stina and Michael bring a wealth of domestic and global expertise with relevance to the challenges we face in the energy transition."

Read more

Irving Institute to Host Second Annual New Energy Summit

New Energy Summer Summit 2023 cohort: (Top L-R) Alphonso Alegre-Bravo, Noman Bashir, Anna Bettini, Jodith Ellen Brunton, Natalia D'Agosti, Omar Faruque, Karl Hoesch (Middle L-R) Julia Huddy, Maddie Kroot, JoRee LaFrance, Qingran Li, Ganga Neupane, Renee Obrnger, Vivian Ogechi Nwadiaru (Bottom L-R) Vivek Shastry, Hunter Snyder, Camillo Stubenberg, Benedict Vergara, Nick Zhang, and Alumni Advisors Jess Dunn and Zdenka Mysilkova.

From July 23-26, 20 early-career energy and climate researchers from the US and Canada will gather on the Dartmouth campus to join a growing community of early-stage energy and climate scholars, learn from each other and campus experts, gain insight into multidisciplinary approaches to climate and energy research, and tackle energy and climate challenges as part of the Arthur L. Irving Institute's second annual New Energy Summer Summit. The Summit offers a unique opportunity for early-career researchers to meet others in a similar place in their professional journey. The New Energy Summer Summit provides a welcoming space for young scholars to connect with each other, offer advice and perspective on topics and issues specific to this stage of their career, and build the foundation for a long-lasting peer network.
 

Read more.

Attending the Bonn Climate Negotiations

Kathlene Yeo ’25, a Dartmouth Environmental Studies major and alum of the Energy Justice Clinic, used Irving Institute Student Grant funding to support her participation in the Bonn Climate Negotiations in Germany in early June 2023. Kate, who was part of the NGO Climate Action Network Southeast Asia delegation, attended discussions on carbon markets, mitigation, and loss and damage as well as closed-door bilateral meetings with policymakers from across the world, and spoke on a panel at the Climate Connection Fellowship Programme, sharing about her experiences as a youth delegate. Kate writes that the experience wasn't easy, because she found herself "often feeling frustrated and pessimistic at the slow pace of discussions..." but that the conference also offered her "a strong sense of community" and reminded her that "the climate movement is ultimately a collective one."

Read Kate's reflection on the experience here.

Goodbyes and Hellos

Change is the only constant, as the old saying goes, and Dartmouth and the Irving Institute are no exception. Over the last few months, in addition to bidding farewell to outgoing College President Phillip Hanlon and welcoming Dartmouth's 19th President, Sian Beilock, we have seen some changes at the Institute as well.

We said goodbye to Kristin Miller, Program Manager, Stephanie Garcia, Program and Events Coordinator, and Stephen Doig ’82, Senior Research and Strategy Advisor. We are grateful for all that Kristin, Stephanie, and Stephen brought to the Institute and to Dartmouth, and we will miss them very much.

We've also had the chance to welcome some new teammates recently: Daniel Lam ’22, Program and Events Coordinator; Molly Dunn, Manager of Building Engagement and Operations; and Chirag Kataruka, a Tuck’24 who is interning with Senior Fellow Liana Frey on the soon-to-launch Greenshot climate accelerator project. And, finally, though not a new face at the Institute, Dr. Sarah Kelly, is transitioning from her previous role as Institute Research Associate to Program Manager of the Energy Justice Clinic. Dr. Kelly is also a lecturer of Geography at Dartmouth.

Dartmouth Energy and Climate News

Extreme Precipitation in Northeast to Increase 52% by 2099 : Dartmouth News highlights a new study led by Associate Professor of Geography and Institute Affiliate Jonathan Winter. The story has also received coverage on NHPR, WCAX, and in the Boston Globe.

A Third Day of Smoky Air Gives Millions in US East Coast, Canada a New View of Wildfire Threat: Assistant Professor of Geography and Institute Affiliate Justin Mankin is quoted in this AP article.

Energy Tax Credits, Meant to Help U.S. Suppliers, May Be Hard to Get: Research from the Princeton-led REPEAT Lab, of which Hodgson Family Assistant Professor of Engineering and Institute Affiliate Erin Mayfield is a member, is cited in this NYT article.

Why the U.S. Electric Grid Isn’t Ready for the Energy Transition: Research from the Princeton-led REPEAT Lab, of which Hodgson Family Assistant Professor of Engineering and Institute Affiliate Erin Mayfield is a member, is cited in this NYT article.

By 2035 IRA Will Drive $200 Billion in Solar Wages: Dartmouth researchers Hodgson Family Assistant Professor of Engineering Erin Mayfield and post-doc Maarten Brinkerink co-authored this study highlighted in PV Magazine.

A Service Learning Model: The Dartmouth Engineer magazine highlights how Drs. Maron Greenleaf and Sarah Kelly are leveraging cross-campus partnerships to increase the impact of the Environmental Justice course and the Energy Justice Clinic, which Greenleaf and Kelly co-direct.

Power Pioneers: Making Tech Cheaper, Smaller, and More Efficient: The Dartmouth Engineer magazine profiles Thayer Professors and Power Management Integration Center co-directors Charlie Sullivan and Jason Stauth.

What Canadian Wildfires Signify for Climate, Public Health: Dartmouth News feature perspectives from Irving Institute Affiliates Justin Mankin (Geography) and Laura Paulin (Geisel) on the climate and health impacts of this summer’s wildfires in eastern Canada.

Tension Mounts Over Climate Finance at the Bonn Climate Talks: Dartmouth ENVS major and Energy Justice Clinic alum Kate Yeo ’25 pens this article on the early June climate negotiation she attended with Irving Institute Student Grant support.

Dartmouth Engineering Project is Finalist for the 2023 Arctic Academic Action Award: Thayer Professor Mary Albert is lead researcher on a project selected by UArctic as one of four Frederik Paulsen Arctic Academic Action Award candidates that "show great potential for improving the ability to deal with specific major issues raised by climate change."