Ashley Ward, director of the Heat Policy Innovation Hub, spoke at a recent Appalachian State University forum about the urgent need for climate resilience alongside former FEMA Administrator Brock Long. The discussion highlighted strategies for communities to adapt and recover from climate-related impacts, recapped by The Watauga Democrat.

As part of its "Disaster 101" series, Duke Today interviewed emergency managers and Duke experts to try to make sense of layers of governments, regulations and communications involved in emergency response and rebuilding. Although experiences differ, common lessons in community and relationship building emerge in their stories.

Long and Ward, two nationally recognized experts in climate resilience and emergency management, will discuss actionable solutions to help communities prepare for and recover from climate-related disasters. The event will be held Tuesday, Feb. 25, as part of Appalachian State University’s Pathways to Resilience initiative.

During its first month, the Trump administration froze U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant funding and raised job security concerns among the agency's employees, the Winston-Salem Journal reports. Nicholas Institute senior fellow Tim Profeta, who worked at EPA for two years, talked with the paper about the effects on organizations that rely on federal funding for projects and programs to advance climate progress in the state, as well as thousands of EPA employees based in North Carolina.

In the first part of a Duke Today series called "Disaster 101," several Duke experts provided an introduction to the disaster management cycle. The number and cost of billion-dollar extreme weather events in the United States has been steadily increasing for decades. Lydia Olander, director of the Nature Activation Hub at the Nicholas Institute, explained that climate change and people moving into high-risk areas are combining to drive the increase.

The Innovation Showcase during the annual Energy Week at Duke brought together more than 100 students, faculty and industry leaders to explore climate tech solutions, reported WRAL News. Highlighting projects from the university's Design Climate incubator, students presented cutting-edge ideas to tackle coastal erosion, decarbonize industries, empower rural communities for a sustainable future and more.

Several Duke experts are attending COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, to share insights, advance collaborative initiatives and network. They are accompanied by 17 students who are getting an up-close view of how international climate policy moves forward.

How can debt-for-nature swaps meaningfully address the triple crises of debt, climate and biodiversity? This one-hour panel discussion at Climate Week NYC, moderated by executive in residence Elizabeth Losos, examined opportunities and obstacles involved in maximizing the potential of these swaps.

Nicholas Institute experts Martin Doyle, Lydia Olander and Tim Profeta recently served one- or two-year terms with federal entities. They discuss their temporary assignments—and what they brought back to Duke.

Martin Doyle served for more than a year as a senior advisor on water resources in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Army for Civil Works, which provides civilian oversight of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Part of a series focusing on Nicholas Institute experts who have recently taken on temporary assignments within federal entities.