Student Applications Open for 2025 Summer Climate+ Research Projects
The Rhodes Information Initiative at Duke (Rhodes iiD), in partnership with the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability, is now accepting student applications for this summer’s Climate+ projects. Launched in 2022, Climate+ is a vertical within Rhodes iiD’s Data+ program, a full-time, ten-week summer research experience for Duke students of all class years and majors.
Want to join a Climate+ project team?
Interested students can apply at bigdata.duke.edu/climate.
Questions? Contact Trey Gowdy, Energy Data Analytics Lab Research Lead, at trey.gowdy@duke.edu.
Climate+ participants learn about data science concepts and methods while applying them to identify and assess complex climate issues and advance viable solutions.
During Summer 2025, eight Climate+ projects will be offered:
- Tracking Aquatic Insect Emergence Using Machine Learning
- Energy Transition During Energy Crisis
- Duke University Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Data System Update
- Mapping High-Stakes Coastal Zones
- Adapting to Warmer Temperatures at the City-Scale
- AI-Driven Mapping of Forest Biodiversity Using Remote Sensing
- Forecasting Heavy Rainfall in the Southeastern U.S. Using Deep Learning
- Automated Flood Modeling and Risk Assessment for Milwaukee River Communities
This year’s project teams will include faculty and research staff from Duke Office of Climate and Sustainability; James E. Rogers Energy Access Project; Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability; Nicholas School of the Environment; Pratt School of Engineering; Sanford School of Public Policy; and Trinity College of Arts & Sciences. External collaborators will include experts from Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (administered by the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station) and Milwaukee River communities.
Like the broader Data+ program, each Climate+ project team will be made up of at most three undergraduates and one graduate student, who will work in a communal environment to learn how to marshal, analyze, and visualize data. Graduate students (including master’s and PhD students) typically serve as project managers, helping their teams stay on track with deliverables and timeline; their compensation may vary.
In addition to developing new skills through project work, Data+ participants gain broad exposure to data science through interactions with guest experts and opportunities to learn from other project teams. Beyond these educational benefits, students in the Climate+ cohort will also have regular opportunities to engage with climate, environment, and energy researchers and practitioners.
All Data+ participants will receive a $5,000 stipend to arrange housing and travel. Funding and infrastructure support are provided by a wide range of departments, schools, and initiatives from across Duke, as well as by outside industry and community partners.
Climate+ reflects the goals of the Duke Climate Commitment, which unites the university’s education, research, operations, and public service missions to address climate challenges. The commitment builds on Duke’s longstanding leadership in climate, energy and sustainability to educate and deploy a generation of climate- and sustainability-fluent innovators and create just, equitable solutions for all.