The new Office of Climate and Sustainability brings together several of Duke University's climate, energy, and environmental assets—including the Nicholas Institute—to help advance the mission of the Duke Climate Commitment.

During Climate Week NYC, the Nicholas Institute, in partnership with Duke’s Office of Climate and Sustainability, organized a panel discussion that sought to expand the conversation about the impacts of extreme heat “not just on lives, but on livelihoods.” At the event, experts discussed how innovations in the financial and insurance sectors, along with partnerships with philanthropy, can help communities plan, prepare for and mitigate this growing challenge. 

The New York Climate Exchange on Governors Island will be a laboratory for universities, corporations and public interest groups to develop solutions to the global climate crisis through education, research, workforce training, and community programs. During Climate Week NYC, several Duke experts explored Governors Island as part of a tour offered by the Exchange, Duke Today reports.

A growing body of research shows that people of color and people living below poverty levels are stuck in heat islands, much more so than their white and wealthier counterparts, reports Nature. “We have a lot of great research that we need to mobilize into feasible and effective policy solutions,” said Ashley Ward, director of the Nicholas Institute's Heat Policy Innovation Hub.

“There is a perfect storm of ingredients that make rural heat risk something that is not only important for us to think about, talk about, and understand better—but also very difficult to mitigate," Ashley Ward, director of the Nicholas Institute's Heat Policy Innovation Hub, told the Rural Health Information Hub. Ward spoke extensively about the health effects of extreme heat on rural populations and interventions to help keep people safe.

Staying hydrated—and knowing how best to do it—is more important than ever. This summer’s excessive heat isn't just a hot spell, but rather a taste of what we can expect from climate change, Ashley Ward, director of the Nicholas Institute's Heat Policy Innovation Hub, told National Geographic. “This is not your grandmother's heat,” Ward said.

Ashley Ward talked with 97.9 The Hill about her work as director of the Nicholas Institute's Heat Policy Innovation Hub to help improve policymakers' preparation and response to extreme heat. The hub is the first program in the United States dedicated to cross-disciplinary innovation on extreme heat policy and practice.

"Heat is not a singular, lonely event. It has far-reaching tentacles into many other aspects of society." Ashley Ward, director of the Nicholas Institute's Heat Policy Innovation Hub, talked with NBC News about the "shocking" human and economic toll of a summer that has broken heat records around the world.

The impacts of extreme heat are often greater in rural areas than cities despite drawing less attention. Ashley Ward, director of the Nicholas Institute's Heat Policy Innovation Hub, spoke with FOX Weather about ways rural communities can cool off.

A new study found significant associations between both long- and short-term exposure to environmental heat during a pregnancy and severe maternal morbidity. Ashley Ward, director of the Heat Policy Innovation Hub, told The 19th that the study—which she was not involved in—makes a significant contribution to our understanding of heat and has important implications for emergency planners.&n