Nicholas Institute research associate Jin Bai was among 19 conservationists recognized during North Carolina Wildlife Federation's 60th Annual Governor’s Conservation Achievement Awards banquet on May 3. Bai was named NCWF's Wildlife Volunteer of the Year for "extraordinary dedication to bird conservation, citizen science and community engagement."

North Carolina Wildlife Federation named Nicholas Institute research associate Jin Bai as its Wildlife Volunteer of the Year. The federation recognized Bai for "extraordinary dedication to bird conservation, citizen science and community engagement."

The Nature Activation Hub brings together tools, guidance and resources to help decision-makers and practitioners integrate nature's benefits into decision-making. The hub builds on the Nicholas Institute’s two decades of actionable research and purposeful partnerships focused on nature-based solutions, ecosystem services and natural and working lands.

World leaders gathered in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November for the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP29—and Duke University experts and students were on the scene.

The Nicholas Institute, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of the Interior, developed an interactive version of the DOI Nature-Based Solutions Roadmap with a new database of more than 400 case studies. One of the Nicholas Institute experts who led the project discusses some of the resource’s features and its applications for DOI staff and beyond.

While interest and investment is growing in the use of nature-based solutions in the United States, significant barriers remain to implementing them more widely. A new Nicholas Institute working paper examines how Florida, North Carolina and Virginia are surmounting permitting hurdles to expand the use of one type of nature-based solution—living shorelines.

A new paper co-authored by Jin Bai, research associate at the Nicholas Institute, proposes a framework for urban ecologists to investigate the causes behind disparities in biodiversity between affluent and less wealthy neighborhoods. “Seeing the pattern of inequality is just the first step,” Bai told the Southeast Climate Adaptation Center. “Truly understanding the major factors that are driving those patterns is where we can address those gaps on a policy level.”

Today the United States Department of the Interior launched a digital Nature-Based Solutions Roadmap, developed in partnership with the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainability at Duke University. This free public resource will serve as a user-friendly and accessible guide for implementing nature-based solutions.

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.

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.

As director of nature-based resilience at the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), Lydia Olander worked for two years to connect efforts to protect U.S. lands and waters with emerging climate resilience priorities. Part of a series focusing on Nicholas Institute experts who have recently taken on temporary assignments within federal entities.

Nineteen individuals and teams were recognized Thursday with Climate Commitment Leadership Awards at the annual Duke Climate Commitment Celebration event. Award recipients included Nicholas Institute experts Kay Jowers, Lydia Olander, Ashley Ward and Katie Warnell.

In a deal announced this week, creditors—with support from the U.S. government—will refinance a portion of El Salvador's debt in exchange for the Central American country committing $350 million to conservation projects benefiting the Lempa River. “You’ve figured out a way to help them out by reducing the amount of money that they’re having to pay and shifting it over to something that everybody agrees would be a good thing,” Elizabeth Losos, Nicholas Institute executive in residence, told The Associated Press about the debt-for-nature swap.