MIT Climate Grand Challenges
Last summer, MIT launched the Climate Grand Challenges to mobilize high-impact MIT research on some of the most challenging unsolved problems in climate change mitigation and adaptation. Almost 30 teams across MIT have now submitted white papers formally proposing flagship challenges for MIT to pursue.
ESI is proud to have convened an extraordinary group of faculty and researchers across MIT for one such proposal, "Protecting and Enhancing Natural Carbon Sinks: Natural Climate and Community Solutions." Designed in collaboration with partners at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, the Lincoln Laboratory, the Sloan School of Management, the Media Lab, J-PAL, and the Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Architecture, and Aeronautics and Astronautics, this proposal focuses on one of the most critical topic areas for carbon sequestration and drawdown: tropical forests.
Indigenous peoples and Afro-descendant communities in the tropics are widely recognized as effective stewards of conservation and sustainable management of forests. Yet these groups face increasing pressures from both climate change and continued unsustainable development. If selected as one of MIT's Climate Grand Challenges, this project would co-create, develop and deploy an enhanced technological toolkit in partnership with these communities, to monitor forest health, forecast risks of deforestation and forest degradation, and foster local economic development via the bioeconomy, allowing the people living in and with forests to leverage the benefits of biodiversity and equitably advance climate mitigation. Learn more about our proposal in the video below.
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Natural Climate and Community Solutions: An MIT Climate Grand Challenge
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15.8731 System Dynamics: Tools for Solving Complex Problems. An introduction to the field of system dynamics that provides skills and tools needed to successfully apply systems thinking and simulation modeling in diverse real-world settings, including sustainability, project management, public policy, healthcare, forecasting, and others. Learn how to use qualitative and quantitative data to formulate and test models and how to work effectively with policy makers and executives to successfully implement change.
SP.250 Transforming Good Intentions into Good Outcomes. Explores hard choices, ethical dilemmas, and the risk of failure in the humanitarian, tech, climate change, and health sectors. Students examine case studies based on challenges faced by MIT alums, faculty, staff, students or community practitioners, and engage in simulations and facilitated discussions. Exposes students to ethical frameworks and standards for social engagement and intervention.
IDS.435 Law, Technology and Public Policy. Examines the relationship between law and technological change, and the ways in which law, economics, and technological change shape public policy. Addresses how law can be used to influence and guide technological change; how the legal system responds to environmental, safety, energy, social, and ethical problems created by new or existing technology; how law and markets interact to limit or encourage technological development; and how law can affect wealth distribution, employment, and social justice.
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This Week
- NEET Open Sessions: Climate & Sustainability Systems and Digital Cities, an opportunity to learn about two NEET threads for MIT students to pursue a hands-on engineering education in fields relevant to climate and sustainability. Tuesday, September 7, two sessions at 3 and 4 pm in Room 4-145. Learn more.
- Investor Speaker Series: The IPCC Report's Call to Action, a webinar hosted by Greentown Labs. Thursday, September 9, 1-2 pm. Register.
Save the Date
- Information Session: The X Prize for Carbon Removal, an opportunity to learn about the $100 million X Prize competition for climate solutions that remove CO2 from the atmosphere. This will be a virtual session. Monday, September 13, 3 pm. Register by September 6.
- From Fossil to Low Carbon: The Evolution of Global Public Energy Innovation, a webinar presenting new research from the Tufts Climate Policy Lab on government RD&D investments in energy technologies around the world. Tuesday, September 14, 8 am. Register.
- Picture Yourself in a Greener Career, part of the virtual Fierce Urgency of Now! Festival with Browning the Green Space. Learn about career opportunities in the Boston-area clean energy economy with experts of color. Thursday, September 16, 1-2:30 pm. Register.
- MIT Solve Challenge Finals, an opportunity to see the final awards of over $2 million in prize funding for the 2021 MIT Solve Global Challenges, including solutions for resilient ecosystems. Friday, September 17, 8 am-2 pm. Register.
- Climapalooza, Boston's annual climate action rally and benefit concert. Friday, September 17, 7-9 pm at the Herter Park Amphitheater. Save the date.
- MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative Lunch Series: Fall Kick Off, an introduction to professional sustainability opportunities available to students at MIT. Thursday, September 23, 11:45 am-12:45 pm. This will be a hybrid in-person/virtual lunch session. Register.
- Climate and the Housing Crisis: A Research Agenda for Urban Communities, a briefing webinar on a new joint working paper from the UMass Boston Sustainable Solutions Lab and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Thursday, September 23, 12 pm. Register.
- MIT Sustainability Ecosystem Mixer, an outdoor event at MIT to celebrate the return to campus with the numerous MIT sustainability groups. Hosted by the Sloan Sustainability Initiative. Thursday, September 23, 4:45-6:45 pm. Register.
- 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.
- Fall Showcase on Experiential Ethics and Sustainability, a poster session showcasing a wide variety of student projects that apply an ethics and sustainability lens to summer work experiences. The date and location of this event have changed to Tuesday, September 28, 4-6 pm, in La Sala de Puerto Rico in the Stratton Student Center.
- Higher Ed in the Climate Century, the latest event in ESI's People, Prosperity & the Planet speaker series. Representatives from four leading universities will discuss sustainability education at the university level and how educational institutions can learn from each other. This is a hybrid event open to anyone via webinar or to the MIT community in-person. Wednesday, September 29, 12-1 pm. Register.
- Sustainability Career and Internship Info Session, part of the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative's Lunch Series. Get tips on how to find internships and careers in sustainability. Thursday, September 30, 11:45 am-12:45 pm. This will be a hybrid in-person/virtual lunch session. Register.
- Living with Heat, a climate change webinar hosted by the Environmental Business Council of New England to discuss solutions to the urban heat island effect and increasing heat waves in Boston. Thursday, September 30, 1-4 pm. Register.
- 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).
- Climatetech Summit 2021, Greentown Labs' annual climate technology entrepreneurship conference. Thursday, November 4, 9 am-8 pm. This year's conference will be a hybrid of in-person sessions at the Greentown Labs facilities in Somerville, Mass. and Houston, Texas with virtual livestreams. Get tickets.
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Climate effects on U.S. infrastructure: The MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change has published a new paper on the costs of climate change to American roads, rail and coastal properties, with and without measures to adapt to more extreme weather.
- MIT Joint Program
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How to keep the power on during hurricanes and heat waves and fires and...: Extreme weather events in Texas, the Pacific Northwest and Louisiana have all caused mass power outages this year alone. In situations of extreme stress, this loss of power can be deadly.
- MIT Technology Review
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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.
- Job: The MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative is seeking a part-time Sustainability Research Projects Coordinator to support research and engagement efforts with a focus on ESG measurement in capital markets. Apply.
- Job: The MIT Energy Initiative is hiring a postdoctoral associate for a techno-economic study of low-carbon electrolytic hydrogen production. Apply.
- Jobs: MIT Solve is hiring for a wide variety of positions, from entry-level to leadership, as it expands its operations to offer seed funding and support to high-impact innovations on major social and environmental problems around the world. Learn more.
- Job: Greentown Labs, a climate tech incubator in Somerville, Mass., is hiring an Executive Communications Coordinator to support the CEO. Learn how to apply.
- Job: Raptor Maps, which builds software to manage solar energy deployments, is seeking an Engineering Manager to oversee software development teams. Apply.
- Job: Via Separations is hiring a Senior Scientist to conduct R&D in energy-efficient industrial filtration processes. Apply.
- 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.
Grants, Scholarships, Contests and Funding Opportunities
- 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.
- Contest: The X Prize has opened registrations for the $100 million X Prize for Carbon Removal. In phase 1, up to 15 projects to remove CO2 from the atmosphere (through technology, natural solutions, or hybrid concepts) will receive $1 million each for early demonstrations and advancements. A total of $5 million will also be given to student teams working on relevant solutions. Learn how to apply by October 1 for student teams or by December 1 for all others.
- Contest: Conservation X Lab has opened its Artisanal Mining Grand Challenge: The Amazon, offering a total of $1 million in prizes to teams developing solutions to address the environmental and social costs of small-scale gold mining in the Amazon. Apply by November 1.
- 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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