Toddi Steelman, Duke’s vice president and vice provost for climate and sustainability, will travel to Singapore and China from Nov. 6–18 to meet with Duke partners to discuss climate and sustainability efforts. Duke representatives joining Steelman for the Duke International Forum on Nov. 17 include Nicholas Institute experts Brian Murray, Jackson Ewing, Jonathan Phillips and Elizabeth Losos.

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.

Duke University's Office of Climate and Sustainability hosted a virtual town hall Tuesday evening to discuss the university's progress on the Duke Climate Commitment, which recently marked its one-year anniversary. The Chronicle rounded up comments from the speakers, including Brian Murray, interim director of the Nicholas Institute.

In the coming years, the shift to a clean energy economy in the United States will require major public and private investments in new infrastructure. The batteries, solar panels, wind turbines and electrical grid upgrades that will power the energy transition all require access to massive amounts of raw materials.

The Climate and Sustainability Summer Institute saw DC-area professionals learn from Duke faculty and researchers about climate and sustainability issues. The Nicholas Institute, Duke Continuing Studies, the Office of Climate & Sustainability, and Duke in DC collaborated on the two-week course, and Nicholas Institute experts Brian Murray and Liz Losos each led sessions.

Utilities in the Carolinas have turned to fossil fuels to meet a surge in energy demand as temperatures have soared this summer. “The key really is which resources are dispatchable," Brian Murray, interim director of the Nicholas Institute, told The News & Observer. In the future, solar and battery storage could fill the role that fossil fuels now play in meeting that need, he said.

The United States’ clean energy transition calls for formidable infrastructure shifts—but the processes for permitting low-carbon energy generation and transmission are complex and time-consuming. US Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA) discussed how to advance this transition via permitting reforms at Duke in DC in a conversation with Brian Murray, interim director of the Nicholas Institute.

A new online portal hosted by the Southeast Electric Transportation Regional Initiative highlights active funding sources, comment solicitations, research opportunities, events and other timely information related to transportation electrification in the Southeast. 

As the start of summer ushers in an El Niño-fueled heat season, a new Duke University program aims to reduce the impacts of extreme heat on human health and well-being.

The Energy Data Analytics Ph.D. Student Fellows program is designed to prepare the next generation of scholars to deftly wield data in pursuit of accessible, affordable, reliable and clean energy systems. The 2023 group of students will conduct research on topics including renewable energy, energy forecasting, efficient lightning, coal pollution, energy equity and extreme weather impacts on energy systems.