The recently merged Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and Duke University Energy Initiative benefited from the work of 55 dedicated student assistants during the 2021–2022 academic year.

The interdisciplinary crew of student assistants hailed from undergraduate and graduate degree programs across seven Duke schools. They brought diverse skillsets and perspectives to their roles, further developing their expertise by working on real-world projects advancing environmental progress.

States collectively have not committed $9.6 billion in available funding to invest in water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure, according to a new report from the Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC) and the Water Policy Program at Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions.

The idea of an Internet of Water was first conceived at the Aspen Institute Dialog Series on Water Data, and formalized in the 2017 report “The Internet of Water: Sharing and Integrating Water Data for Sustainability.” This concept built on earlier academic work in water science, as well the federal government’s Open Water Data Initiative (OWDI), which substantially improved access to federal water data sets.

Duke University experts will share insights about international climate policy with university students across the nation in a free virtual seminar series funded by the U.S. Department of State. The series is also open to the Duke community, including students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

A NOAA-led report released earlier this week finds seas could rise by up to a foot nationally by 2050 — triggering a “profound” increase in coastal flooding even in the absence of stronger storms and extreme rainfall. Martin Doyle spoke to Greenwire about the vision needed at the federal level to match the scale of the challenge.

Lauren Patterson wrote for the Internet of Water's blog about the water affordability dashboard, key findings from it, and how it will be supported by an Internet of Water.

The Duke-based Internet of Water will serve as the model for a national pilot program to improve how water data is shared.

Utilities and their customers face growing challenges to the affordability of basic water services in communities across the country. Over the last year, the Nicholas Institute’s Water Policy Program has been exploring the causes and scale of these challenges and ways to potentially address them.

Decommissioning obsolete infrastructure presents an unusual opportunity to decrease long-term government spending, improve public safety and restore the environment, writes Martin Doyle in an op-ed for The Hill.

A historic freeze in February left at least 40,000 people in Jackson, Miss., without running water for weeks, displaying the fragility of the city's water system after decades of outmigration, deferred maintenance, and declining federal support. Martin Doyle was among several national policy experts who spoke to Mississippi Today about how other American cities have navigated large-scale water funding shortages and how Jackson could move forward.