Draft:Boston University Institute for Global Sustainability

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  • Comment: Wikipedia is not a means of outward linking an institute's various research projects. Articles should generally contain zero external links in the prose, much less a full list of such links. Utopes (talk / cont) 22:55, 25 April 2024 (UTC)

The Boston University Institute for Global Sustainability (IGS) is a sustainability and climate research institute at Boston University. IGS’s mission is to “pioneer research to advance a sustainable and equitable future,” with a particular focus on planetary and environmental health, climate governance and sustainability transitions, and energy systems of the future.[1] It brings together more than 90 core and affiliated faculty members from 12 of Boston University’s schools and colleges.[2] The Institute and its leadership have publicly stated a strong commitment to equity and justice, working towards a just transition to an economy less dependent on fossil fuels that considers the livelihood and well-being of all people.[3] [4]

History and Leadership[edit]

IGS was formerly the Boston University Institute for Sustainable Energy (ISE), which was founded in 2016 by Peter Fox-Penner, a former Senior Advisor in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.[1][5] The Institute relaunched as IGS in July 2022 to focus on sustainability research more broadly.[6] Since 2022, IGS has been led by social scientist Benjamin K. Sovacool, referred to as "the father of energy justice" by Shalanda Baker, director of the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity and secretarial advisor on equity at the US Department of Energy.[7] Rebecca Pearl-Martinez, who has previously worked with the United Nations on climate and energy policy, also joined as executive director in 2022 with the goal of seeing the Institute become “a global leader in the climate and sustainability space.”[3] Faculty associate directors include Cutler J. Cleveland, Nalin Kulatilaka, M. Patricia Fabian, Arunima Krishna, Emily Ryan, and Henrik Selin.[8]

Research Focus[edit]

Research Projects[edit]

IGS oversees several ongoing research and outreach projects:

  • Visualizing Energy is a science communication project that launched in 2023, providing data stories on the link between sustainable energy and human well-being. The data, visualizations, and original text are free to use.[10]
  • Benjamin Sovacool and Rebecca Pearl-Martinez co-lead the Resource Function of the Research Coordinating Center of the NIH Climate Change and Health Initiative that is jointly led by the Boston University School of Public Health and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.[11]
  • The ongoing multi-year research project, “Energy Justice Indicators: Measuring Community Effects of Offshore Wind Energy Development” is a collaboration between IGS, the University of Rhode Island, and the University of Delaware that is funded by the Department of Energy’s Wind Energy Technologies Office.[12]
  • Development of the “Energy and Equity Exposures Database for Population Health” is seed-funded by an IGS Sustainability Research Grant with the Boston University School of Public Health to better understand how energy decisions affect population health in the United States.[13]
  • The Boston University Campus Climate Lab supports sustainability and climate research led by student-mentor teams using the BU campus and operations, such as the Anthony Janetos Climate Action Prize winning project for 2023 on making research labs more sustainable.[14] Campus Climate Lab is led by IGS in collaboration with BU Sustainability and the Office of Research.[15]
  • A year-long project that IGS jointly funded with the Rafik B. Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science & Engineering called “Data and Misinformation in an Era of Sustainability and Climate Change Crises” launched in 2022 to research the spread of climate misinformation and disinformation through Twitter (now X), Reddit, and native advertising.[16]
  • In 2023, the Research Council of Norway awarded $1.1 million to support a research collaboration between NTNU Social Research (NSR) and Boston University called the “Limits to Digitalization (L2D)” project. The effort is designed to evaluate Norway’s growing data center industry and digital transformation amid Norway’s shift to clean energy.[17]
  • The Institute received nearly $500,000 in funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to pursue research examining the equity implications of renewable energy generation.[6][18]
  • Engineering professors affiliated with IGS have earned funding from the National Science Foundation and Boston University College of Engineering’s Dean’s Catalyst Award to improve energy storage and battery performance, respectively.[19][20]
  • The Impact Measurement & Allocation Program (IMAP) sponsored by the Ravi K. Mehrotra Institute and affiliated with the Institute for Global Sustainability in 2021 is focused on improving sustainable investing metrics.[21]

Research Projects[edit]

A selection of publications by Boston University faculty affiliated with IGS includes:

Partners[edit]

National Renewable Energy Laboratory[22]

Schneider Electric[23]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Institute for Global Sustainability | Mission & Approach". Boston University.
  2. ^ "Institute for Global Sustainability | Core & Affiliated Faculty". Boston University.
  3. ^ a b Colarossi, Jessica (March 15, 2022). "BU Institute to Focus on Equity and Justice in the Climate Change Fight". The Brink.
  4. ^ Sutter, John (January 18, 2023). "What Does a Just Transition Really Mean?". Foreign Policy Magazine, Graham Holdings Company.
  5. ^ "Peter S. Fox-Penner". Brattle.
  6. ^ a b "Institute for Global Sustainability | Annual Report 2023". Boston University.
  7. ^ "Justice Week Day 4, Thursday 9/15/22: The Justice40 Initiative". YouTube.
  8. ^ "Institute for Global Sustainability | Leadership & Staff". Boston University.
  9. ^ "Institute for Global Sustainability | Research". Boston University.
  10. ^ Cleveland, Cutler; Clifford, Heather (January 31, 2024). "Visualizing A Sustainable Energy Future". Association of Science Communicators.
  11. ^ "Convene-Accelerate-Foster-Expand: The Joint BUSPH-HSPH Research Coordinating Center (CAFÉ RCC) of the NIH Climate Change and Health Initiative". Climate Health Cafe.
  12. ^ "DOE Grants $2.5 Million for Pioneering Study on Energy Justice in US Offshore Wind Development, Led by the University of Rhode Island, Boston University, and the University of Delaware | Institute for Global Sustainability". Boston University. December 11, 2023.
  13. ^ "Energy & Equity Exposures Database for Population Health". Boston University.
  14. ^ Laskowski, Amy (21 June 2023). "How to Make Research Labs More Sustainable". The Brink.
  15. ^ "Campus Climate Lab". Boston University.
  16. ^ Colarossi, Jessica (24 May 2023). "Tweets, Ads, and Lies: Researchers Are Fighting against Climate Misinformation". The Brink.
  17. ^ "$1.1 Million Awarded to Joint Study on Impacts of Data Centers in Norway's Clean Energy Transition". Boston University. July 2023.
  18. ^ "Grants Database". Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
  19. ^ Sheeley, Liz. "Dean's Catalyst Awards Spark Innovation and Collaboration: The 2020 winners announced". Boston University.
  20. ^ Colarossi, Jessica (January 18, 2024). "The Race to a Battery-Powered Future". The Brink.
  21. ^ "Impact Measurement & Allocation Program". Boston University.
  22. ^ "Boston University Partners with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to Recruit Top Research Talent". Boston University. September 29, 2022.
  23. ^ Whitlock, Robin (29 March 2023). "Schneider Electric and Boston University set new standard for sustainable buildings". Renewable Energy Magazine.
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