Twelve Duke Teams Launch Research on Climate Solutions

Forty-five Duke University scholars will pursue new research on sustainable, equitable solutions to address climate change and its effects, supported by grants from the Duke Climate Research Innovation Seed Program (CRISP).

Twelve teams have collectively been awarded nearly $700,000 to investigate topics such as equitable disaster recovery, community insurance, financing climate-smart agriculture, water quality challenges posed by sea level rise, forest-based carbon offsets and more.

The research teams include experts from seven Duke schools and three interdisciplinary institutes, in addition to partners from a dozen other universities and environmental organizations.

CRISP advances the objectives of the Duke Climate Commitment, which unites the university’s education, research, operations and public service missions to address climate challenges. 

This year, all Duke faculty and research staff could apply for Research Awards (up to $100,000) to support projects focused on climate and community resilience, one of four Duke Climate Commitment areas of focus. Ideation Awards (up to $20,000) were available to support work on any of the areas: climate and community resilience, energy transformation, environmental and climate justice and climate and data.

The 2024 request for proposals attracted interest from across Duke. Forty-four project teams applied for a total of $2.8 million.

“Researchers from across Duke University are activating their expertise and ingenuity to identify novel approaches to create greater resiliency to climate change with a community focus,” said Toddi Steelman, vice president and vice provost for climate and sustainability. “This exciting group of proposals works collaboratively with key partners to test and refine promising ideas and advance tangible, scalable solutions that benefit communities and ecosystems.” 

The 2024 funding round was supported by an award from The Duke Endowment that kicked off the Climate Commitment. 

CRISP’s inaugural funding round in 2023 launched 12 projects by teams of scholars from across eight Duke schools to investigate wide-ranging topics such as lower-cost, higher-efficiency solar cells; subsidies for energy-saving home renovations; the environmental, health and justice impacts of mining critical raw materials; and pastoral care for climate change.

Research Awards (2024) 

Rising Tides and Water Quality Challenges in Down East North Carolina

Emily S. Bernhardt (Biology, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences) (PI)
Akhenaton-Andrew Dhafir Jones III (Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pratt School of Engineering)
Ryan Emanuel (Environmental Sciences and Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment)
Kiera O’Donnell (Postdoctoral Associate, Biology, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences)
Kayla Farley (Ph.D. Student, Pratt School of Engineering)
Elizabeth Frankenberg (Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)
Karen Willis Amspacher (Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center)

As sea levels rise, various water sources across coastal landscapes — like aquifers, reservoirs and sewers — become increasingly interconnected, creating all kinds of new risks. Focusing on the rural regions of Carteret County, North Carolina, this team will identify some of the most serious risks by interviewing local residents, testing tap water and assessing infrastructure. Ultimately, the researchers aim to develop a new way to profile risk for not only individuals and communities but also entire watersheds.

Monetizing Resilience to Mobilize Climate Capital: Understanding the Value of Climate-Smart Agriculture in East Africa

Marc Jeuland (Sanford School of Public Policy) (PI)
Jonathan Phillips (Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability)
Mark Borsuk (Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pratt School of Engineering)
Alexander Pfaff (Sanford School of Public Policy)
Norbert Wilson (Duke Divinity School)
James Moody (Sociology, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences)
Liilnna Teji (Policy Associate, Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability)
Rahel Deribe Bekele (Postdoctoral Associate, Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability)
William Ferris (Postdoctoral Associate, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pratt School of Engineering)
Alejandro Diaz-Herrera (Ph.D. Student, University Program in Environmental Policy)
Dylan Munson (Ph.D. Student, University Program in Environmental Policy)

The investments required to protect developing countries from climate change are at least 10 times larger than international public finance flows, with an estimated gap of $194 billion to $366 billion per year. To help fill that gap, this project will study new approaches to private-sector investment. Focusing on smallholder farmers in East Africa, the team aims to help develop new financial instruments, including resilience credits, carbon credits with resilience co-benefits and resilience bonds, among others.

Climate Extremes, Rainforest and Community Health in Southeastern Madagascar

Brian McAdoo (Earth and Climate Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment) (PI)
Anne Yoder (Biology, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences)
Camille DeSisto (Ph.D. Candidate, University Program in Ecology)
Elise Paietta (Ph.D. Candidate, Biology, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences)
Desireé Outten-Berríos (Ph.D. Student, Biology, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences)
Ryan Parks (Ph.D. Student, Earth and Climate Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment)

The COVID-19 pandemic occurred after a disease once confined to bats spread naturally to humans in a phenomenon called zoonotic transmission. Focusing on Madagascar’s Manombo Special Reserve, where cyclones and drought have increased human-wildlife interaction, this project seeks to understand how extreme climate hazards drive zoonotic transmission. It ultimately aims to develop mitigation strategies and emergency plans for similar at-risk communities across the globe.

Developing Technical Assistance and Community Insurance Models to Build Climate Resilience in Underserved and Overburdened Rural Communities in North Carolina

Lydia Olander (Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainability) (PI)
Francis Bouchard (Duke Climate Leader in Residence)
Ashley Ward (Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability)
Mark Borsuk (Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pratt School of Engineering)
Elizabeth Albright (Environmental Sciences and Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment)

This project aims to ensure that underserved communities can access the risk management tools they need to protect themselves from climate change. Partnering with the North Carolina State Office of Recovery and Resilience, this team will seek to document and model resilience decision-making at local levels. The team will also explore how new risk management approaches like community-based catastrophe insurance could address gaps in coverage and disaster recovery aid.

Resilient Communities Built on Farmer Flourishing: Policy Frameworks for Climate-Ready Local Food Systems

Kerilyn Schewel (Duke Center for International Development, Sanford School of Public Policy) (PI)
Jack Daly (World Food Policy Center, Sanford School of Public Policy)
Saskia Cornes (John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute and Duke Campus Farm)
Lee Miller (Duke School of Law)

The world needs more farmers committed to climate-resilient practices—but they often face enormous social, environmental and policy challenges to maintaining productivity and profitability. This project will engage with farmers, policymakers and businesses in North Carolina’s Durham and Orange Counties, gleaning insights to inform new county land use and climate action plans. The team also aims to create a database of county-level policies from across the nation to aid grassroots organizations and decisionmakers in advancing climate-resilient local food systems. Note: This project is funded in part by the Office of Durham and Community Affairs and the Office of Interdisciplinary Studies.

The Role of Forest Based Carbon Offsetting in Climate and Community Resilience: Multi-Scalar, Transdisciplinary Research with Indigenous Communities in North America

Elizabeth Shapiro-Garza (Environmental Sciences and Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment) (PI)
Nicolette Cagle (Environmental Sciences and Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment)
Jessica Dempsey (Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts, University of British Columbia)
Santiago Izquierdo Tort (Institute for Economic Studies, National Autonomous University of Mexico)
Sara Nelson (Centre for Climate Justice, Faculty of Arts, University of British Columbia)
Meredith Martin (Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, College of Natural Resources, North Carolina State University)
Beth Rose Middleton Manning (Department of Native American Studies, College of Letters and Science, University of California, Davis)

Forest-based carbon offsets (FBCOs) offer companies a way to reduce their net carbon dioxide emissions even if they are not making any changes to their own operations. This project will examine how indigenous communities across North America interact with FBCOs and will ultimately partner with communities to develop best practices for such interactions.

Seeding Climate Hope with Youth in the United States, Tanzania, and Brazil through Visual Arts Education & Nature Engagement

Christopher Sims (Sanford School of Public Policy) (PI)
Katherine Hyde (Center for Documentary Studies)
Bill Bamberger (Center for Documentary Studies)
Nora Zubizarreta (MFA Student, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences)
Pelle Shaibu (Literacy through Photography, Arusha, Tanzania)
João Henrique Quoos (Department of Geography, Federal Institute of Santa Catarina, Garopaba City, Santa Catarina, Brazil)
Fabiano Siegel (Pelznickel Society, Guabiruba, Santa Catarina, Brazil)
Julia Altafin Lemmi (Graduate Student in Environmental Management, Federal Institute of Santa Catarina, Garopaba City, Santa Catarina, Brazil)
Amanda Van Scoyoc (Yale Child Study Center, Yale University)
Dennis Liu (E. O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, Durham, North Carolina)

Based at Duke’s Center for Documentary Studies, this interdisciplinary team will design and implement an extended series of workshops and courses around the themes of climate hope, action and community resiliency. It will work at three sites across the globe: Durham, North Carolina; Zanzibar City, Zanzibar, Tanzania; and Guabiruba, Santa Catarina, Brazil. The team will develop a series of open access materials, including a website, to sustain and extend its reach over time. Note: This project arises from activities supported by a 2023 CRISP Ideation Award.

Ideation Awards (2024)

Equitable Climate Disaster Recovery

Elizabeth Albright (Environmental Sciences and Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment) (PI)
Kay Jowers (Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability)

To thrive over the long term, a community must be able to recover from natural disasters quickly. But in the United States, observers have long argued that federal disaster recovery aid benefits some communities more than others, with poorer, less white communities often losing out. Using innovative statistical models, this project will examine the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Individual and Household Program for such inequities and determine their possible causes.

Renewable Energy Transformations in Uruguay: South American Climate Change Policy as Democratic Resilience

Christine Folch (Cultural Anthropology, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences) (PI)

Sandwiched between Brazil and Argentina, the South American country of Uruguay boasts a booming economy as well as a nearly carbon-free electrical grid. Focusing on Uruguay’s long-term energy plan, this project will investigate how the country has managed to prosper while simultaneously replacing fossil fuels with wind energy and hydropower on a national scale. It will take the form of a six-month ethnographic study with stakeholders in Uruguayan industry, government, and civil society.

Forest Health Raises Downstream Health: Evidence for Climate Resilience from Peru

Alexander Pfaff (Sanford School of Public Policy) (PI)
Chrissie Pantoja (Ph.D. Student, University Program in Environmental Policy)

The Amazon rainforest covers about 60 percent of Peru’s national territory, more than in any other country. If properly conserved, this unique ecosystem may help to shield certain communities located along the Amazon River from droughts and floods caused by extreme variations in rainfall. This project will use extensive survey data and satellite imagery to measure forest loss and its effects over the past two decades.

Understanding China’s Climate Change Mitigation Efforts: A Case Study of Its Carbon Emissions Trading System

Shitong Qiao (Duke University School of Law) (PI)
Jonathan B. Wiener (Duke University School of Law)
Jingbo Cui (Economics, Duke Kunshan University)
Junjie Zhang (Environmental Sciences and Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment)
Jackson Ewing (Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability)
Tianbao Qin (Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, China)

Emissions trading systems (ETS) make polluters in certain areas pay for the greenhouse gases they release into the surrounding environment. In 2021, China launched the world’s largest national ETS, with a transaction volume of 240 million tons. This project will be the first of its kind to study the law and economics of China’s ETS, concentrating attention on questions of legislation, administrative regulation and judicial oversight.

HeatWise: Heat Policy Leadership Forum

Ashley Ward (Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability) (PI)
David Bjorkback (Project Coordinator, Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability)
Lilli Watson (Policy Associate, Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability)

Last year’s sweltering summer prompted greater interest in policy solutions for protecting communities against extreme heat. To help generate new approaches, the Heat Policy Innovation Hub at Duke’s Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability will host HeatWise, a first-of-its-kind forum for experts and stakeholders from across the United States. Convening over three days, HeatWise will build an unconventional coalition dedicated to mitigating the effects of soaring temperatures on human health, productivity and well-being.