Sustainability in STEM Classes
ESI has published a new white paper, "Introducing Environmental and Sustainability Content into University Level Introductory Physics Classes." The paper presents results of a collaborative effort to add environmental and sustainability topics into two of MIT’s required physics classes for first-year students—part of our ongoing project to introduce environmental themes to foundational STEM classes at MIT.
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ESI is committed to ensuring that every student at MIT is exposed to the climate and sustainability implications of their fields, with a special emphasis on the required classes that enroll hundreds of students every year. Yet there has been very little research measuring the impact of these interventions. We hope that our research might spur further studies into the most effective and meaningful ways to integrate sustainability content in STEM education.
The full white paper is available on our website.
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2.S985(G)/2.S885(U) Exploring Sustainability at Different Scales uses the UN's sustainable development goals as a framework to understand sustainability in business, economics, science, engineering, social science and the humanities. Contact Prof. Tim Gutowski for more information.
15.366 Climate and Energy Ventures is recruiting graduate students with innovative technologies and business concepts to join the class for Fall 2021. This class has spun out over 30 ventures over the past 10 years.
Typically, 15.366 sources at least 10-12 technologies/venture concepts per semester, and teams (balanced in skillset between tech, business and policy) are formed around these innovations. These teams then work throughout the course of the semester to develop the venture’s business and market-launch efforts.
Learn more about the class, and fill out this interest form to apply.
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Save the Date
- Strategies for Achieving Carbon Neutrality in the U.S. Pavement Network, a webinar with Hessam AzariJafari of the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub. Thursday, August 5, 11 am-12 pm. Register.
- Applied Energy Symposium: MIT A+B, a three-day symposium co-hosted by MIT and Harvard on A) the rapid deployment of existing, proven low-carbon energy technologies, and B) the development of next-generation energy technologies that could begin deployment at the terawatt scale by mid-century. August 11-13.
- Using Emerging Technologies to Meet Climate Resilience Goals, a joint event with the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Association of State Energy Officials focused on achieving statewide climate goals. August 12-13. Register.
- Climapalooza, Boston's annual climate action rally and benefit concert. Friday, September 17, 7-9 pm. Save the date.
- Climate Preparedness Week 2021. Save the date for this week of virtual and Boston-area events on extreme weather adaptation, or apply to host an event of your own. September 24-30.
- VERGE 21, a virtual event for climate tech across energy, mobility, carbon removal, agriculture and more. With dozens of breakout sessions and keynote speakers including Gov. Gavin Newsom, Gina McCarthy and Bill McKibben. October 25-28. Browse the program and get tickets (registration for the keynotes is free).
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TIL about national security: Alice Hill, senior fellow for energy and the environment at the Council on Foreign Relations, joins ESI's Today I Learned: Climate podcast to discuss the national security implications of climate change and planning for a stable future.
- TILclimate
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Push to make supply chains more sustainable continues to gain momentum: The MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics has published new research showing that industries continued to improve the sustainability of their supply chains even through the pandemic.
- MIT News
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Internships, Fellowships and Work Opportunities
- Job: ESI is hiring a postdoctoral associate to undertake research related to environmental justice, with a primary focus on hydrocarbon-producing regions of the United States. Learn more and apply.
- Student Job: The MIT Office of Sustainability is hiring upper-level undergraduate or graduate students as summer fellows, to advance projects in data analytics and carbon offsets. Apply.
- Jobs: FORGE, a nonprofit that helps innovators in cleantech and other high-tech, socially beneficial fields grow to large-scale manufacturing, is hiring for two leadership positions at its new location in Lowell, Massachusetts: a Northeast Massachusetts Director and a Director of Partnerships.
- Job: The International Living Future Institute is hiring an Ambassador Program Manager to recruit and train a network of volunteers, driving adoption of ILFI Certifications for the highest standards of sustainability in the built environment. Apply.
- Job: The Carnegie Institution for Science Department of Global Ecology is hiring a postdoctoral fellow to conduct research on net-zero-emission energy technologies and systems. Learn more and apply.
- Job: GreenInfo, a public interest data visualization and communication group with a focus on environmental policy and analysis, is seeking a new Associate Director in the San Francisco Bay Area. Learn how to apply.
- Job: The Sequoia Climate Fund is hiring a Climate Policy Data Scientist to support the fund's grantmaking with credible data analyses and methodologies to assess the emissions abatement potential of a wide variety of project types. Apply.
Grants, Scholarships, Contests and Funding Opportunities
- Contest: The ClimateScience Olympiad 2021 is open for registrations. Compete in teams of 2 to create solutions for the UN sustainable development goals, with $10,000 in prizes on offer in the final round at the COP25 UN climate summit in Glasgow. Register by August 1.
- Contest: GlobalSF and Nestlé will award $10,000 to select companies developing sustainable packaging to demo their solutions in San Francisco, as well as networking opportunities to scale up with Nestlé and its partners. Solutions should offer a friction-less customer experience that reduces the use of plastic packaging. Apply by August 3.
- Accelerator Program: Greentown Labs has launched the Healthy Buildings Challenge, offering networking, mentorship, office space, and $25,000 in grant funding to startups focused on building technologies that optimize for both human health and climate change mitigation. Read the RFP and apply by August 25.
- Award: The Ramboll Group will award €65,000 to an early-career researcher contributing to a green transition in the energy sector. Learn more and apply by September 20.
- Grant: MISTI-Spain is calling for proposals for its INDITEX Circularity Seed Fund, a $30,000 grant for collaborations between MIT groups and research institutions in Spain that advance sustainability in the textiles industry. Apply by December 13.
Volunteer and Student Group Opportunities
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