Institute at Brown for Environment & Society (IBES)

What kind of holiday lights should I buy? If you’re planning to deck your house with lights this holiday season, you have a choice to make: stick with incandescent lightbulbs, or go for LEDs. This week on Possibly we break down what each opti...

If you’re planning to deck your house with lights this holiday season, you have a choice to make: stick with incandescent light bulbs, or go for LEDs.

This week on Possibly we break down what each option means for the planet, and your electric bill.
www.oceanstatemedia.org/news-and-cul...

Tomorrow! Forge new community-oriented partnerships and research teams during ECF's 2025 conference, a day of inquiry featuring panels, poster sessions, and facilitated conversation. Learn more + register: https://events.brown.edu/event/319822-equitable-climate-futures-seeding-collaborative

NEW RESEARCH: With #RSV hospitalizing 80,000 US children each year, a @brown.edu team aimed to learn how population density affects its spread among young children.

@brown-ibes.bsky.social @rebaker.bsky.social

Learn the results!⤵️
https://www.brown.edu/news/2025-11-26/rsv-urban-rural-immunization

IBES announces 2025 Catalyst Research Awardees IBES awarded grants to six core and affiliate faculty members, allowing them to conduct research that crosses boundaries and benefits communities, both at Brown and around the world.

Lukas Rieppel Named 2025 @brown-ibes.bsky.social Catalyst Research Awardee — The annual award supports Brown University faculty in pursuing research that aligns with IBES’s goals of accelerating exploratory research with the potential to impact communities and engage with non-academic partners.

Many Fighting Climate Change Worry They Are Losing the Information War

"10 Years After Paris Accord, Climate Denial Is Surging" - see @lisagsf.bsky.social and @stevenleemyers.bsky.social' piece in the NY Times, featuring the work by our scholars on the infiltration of misinformation in international climate negotiations. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/c...

Many Fighting Climate Change Worry They Are Losing the Information War

Excellent coverage of exactly the problem we face 35 years into the effort to face #climatechange:

"a decades-long disinformation bombardment.," as @whitehouse.senate.gov put it.

Now on solutions--see work by Climate Action Against Disinformation groups
caad.info

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/c...

Just over two weeks until Values at Risk 2025! Don't miss this opportunity to hear from our esteemed guests, each of whom brings their own unique expertise to the topic of climate risk. Register to attend the Dec 9 webinar: events.brown.edu/event/319990...

Obstruction tactics delay climate action, says global assessment A new global assessment explores who is blocking action on climate change through coordinated disinformation campaigns.

Reporting by @mongabay.com on our new Global Assessment and larger trends of climate obstruction in the COP: india.mongabay.com/2025/11/obst...

@edsustainable.bsky.social is hosting our first annual interdisciplinary conference!

Research at the intersection of education and the environment. 🎓🌎

May 1st, 2026

Providence, RI

Easy one paragraph abstract submission ⬇️
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Please share w/ your networks!

Brown begins work on $7 million microplastics research initiative Brown’s team in the SIMCoast initiative will focus on modeling microplastics in the Narragansett Bay. 

Brown faculty, including IBES fellow @baylorfk.bsky.social & affiliate @maratimes.bsky.social, are part of the new SIMCoast initiative modeling microplastics in Narragansett Bay.

“It’s a fantastic way to do interdisciplinary work and learn from others,” Freilich told @browndailyherald.bsky.social.

WATCH | “Subjects of the Sun”: Rethinking solar justice with Myles Lennon During an October 18 book talk, Assistant Professor Myles Lennon challenged audiences to see solar energy as not only a climate solution, but a reflection of deeper social and economic inequities.

WATCH | “Subjects of the Sun”: Rethinking solar justice with Myles Lennon. During an October 18 book talk hosted by @brown-ibes.bsky.social, Assistant Prof Myles Lennon challenged audiences to see solar energy as not only a climate solution, but a reflection of deeper social and economic inequities.

IBES is hiring! The Student Transformative Engagement Pathways (STEP) Program Director will guide development and execution of expanded paid internships & research assistantships in climate, sustainability, and the environment for undergrads across Brown. brown.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/staff-...

What should we do about invasive species, and should we do anything at all? Spotted lanternflies, Japanese barberry, Oriental bittersweet – When plants and animals like these invade our environment, they can disrupt other organisms that are native to the region. But can we st...

Spotted lanternflies, Japanese barberry, Oriental bittersweet – When plants and animals like these invade our environment, they can disrupt other organisms that are native to the region. But can we stop these species? And should we?
www.oceanstatemedia.org/what-should-...

Countries Sign A Declaration To Fight Climate Disinformation At COP30

A big move in the right direction by world leaders.

See CSSN Director @timmonsroberts.bsky.social quoted in @earthjournalism.bsky.social: earthjournalism.net/stories/coun...

YouTube video by Facing Future The Phosphorus Conundrum

Phosphorus is essential to life on Earth, but in the wrong places and quantities, it’s an environmental hazard.

IBES Prof Stephen Porder and UVM Assoc Prof Eric Roy, a former Voss postdoc, joined Facing Future to discuss the phosphorus conundrum and explain their work on the phosphorous cycle.

Should we be concerned about red seaweed washing up on Rhode Island’s beaches? Red seaweed has been washing up on Rhode Island beaches for years, but what is it? This week on Possibly we explain what’s causing this red seaweed to appear, how it’s different from harmful “red tide...

Red seaweed has been washing up on Rhode Island beaches for years, but what is it? On our latest episode of Possibly: what’s causing this red seaweed to appear, how it’s different from harmful “red tides” and how it might help the planet.
www.oceanstatemedia.org/news-and-cul...

How can we deepen collaboration across disciplines & communities to tackle the climate crisis more effectively? Explore answers during the Equitable Climate Future Initiative's 2025 conference on Dec 3! Learn more: https://events.brown.edu/event/319822-equitable-climate-futures-seeding-collaborative

Join IBES's Values at Risk 2025 webinar! On Dec 9 at noon, experts in finance, insurance, policy, and environmental science will explore how we can better anticipate, price, and manage climate-related risk.

Learn more + register: https://ow.ly/3UVH50XnZaK Carolyn Kousky Environmental Defense Fund

IBES Director @kimcobb.bsky.social joined LA's AirTalk radio show to discuss Bill Gates's recent memo on climate change — in which he expresses concerns on how the climate crisis is being framed and addressed — and how should we talk about climate moving forward. laist.com/news/la-city...

IBES announces 2025 Catalyst Research Awardees IBES awarded grants to six core and affiliate faculty members, allowing them to conduct research that crosses boundaries and benefits communities, both at Brown and around the world.

Lukas Rieppel Named 2025 @brown-ibes.bsky.social Catalyst Research Awardee — The annual award supports Brown University faculty in pursuing research that aligns with IBES’s goals of accelerating exploratory research with the potential to impact communities and engage with non-academic partners.

WATCH | Usable climate science: Adam Sobel on making risk research work for the real world At a recent IBES seminar, Columbia University’s Adam Sobel called for a transparent approach to climate risk science—one that guides practical decisions in an era of extremes.

At a recent IBES seminar, Columbia University's Adam Sobel called for a transparent approach to climate risk science—one that guides practical decisions in an era of extremes. Learn more and view a recording of the event: https://ibes.brown.edu/news/2025-11-12/sobel-climate-risk

New reports paint picture of an ‘extremely dangerous’ future with warming expected to blow past key limit | CNN Melting ice sheets. Massive flooding. Dead coral reefs. Humanity is careening toward an untenable future as global temperatures rise, scientists warn

A sobering take on what a slew of new reports say about how the world will look under 2-3°C+ of warming. W/ @laurapaddison.bsky.social & insights from @drkatemarvel.bsky.social, @kimcobb.bsky.social, @weatherwest.bsky.social & others. www.cnn.com/2025/11/12/c... (For CNN subscribers.)

IBES Voss Fellows bring climate research to the community Members of the 2025-2026 Voss Undergraduate Fellowship cohort have shared their research with local audiences through the Conversations in Science series at Providence’s Hamilton House.

Several IBES Voss Fellows have brought their research beyond campus this semester, presenting at Providence’s Hamilton House as part of the Conversations in Science series: a collaboration that connects Brown scholars with lifelong learners eager to explore real-world environmental challenges.

IBES Voss Postdoc Elodie Freymann is first author of a new report that documents a novel foraging behavior in fire-crested alethes. The African birds followed humans & bushbuck, likely to flush out insect prey, diverging from their typical ant-following strategy. www.frontiersin.org/journals/bir...

IBES Professor Amanda Lynch co-authored a new policy brief published by the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, which argues that, in the Arctic, the global transformation brought about by AI and ML technology is "not merely disruptive – it is decisive."

Read "Algorithmic North" ⤵️

IBES affiliate David Savitz, a professor emeritus of epidemiology and pediatrics, offered commentary on how uncertainty around toxin data can affect public health outcomes.

Expert retrospective on a decade of the Paris Agreement Nature Climate Change - To mark the tenth anniversary of the Paris Agreement, Nature Climate Change asked experts to reflect on the progress of and barriers to several of its key Articles. They...

Viewpoint: @carlschleussner.bsky.social @paucastro.bsky.social Alexandra Lesnikowski, @adellethomas.bsky.social @romainweikmans.bsky.social @timmonsroberts.bsky.social Ambuj Sagar, Sonia Klinsky, Thomas Bernauer discuss status of #ParisAgreement Articles on it's 10th anniversary rdcu.be/eOBBU

@mapcenter.com Glad to hear you're interested in this annual event series! Have you ever connected with @sedasalap.bsky.social? She is one of the lead planners of the series. You can reach out to her and/or environment@brown.edu to learn more about getting involved this year or next!

A new paper co-authored by IBES Asst Prof @danibarra.bsky.social examines chemical fingerprints in preserved trees understand how plants responded to the low CO2 levels and cooler temperatures of the last glacial period, about 20,000 years ago.

Read the full press release:

IBES is hiring! We seek a Visiting Asst Professor for the 2026-27 & 2027-28 academic years with the possibility of renewal. Scholars with expertise in energy, sustainable design, the built environment, and/or environmental justice are particularly encouraged to apply. apply.interfolio.com/176395