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In a virtual Duke Forever Learning Institute session, an expert panel discussed the qualities of foundational to high-impact volunteering and considered how unintended consequences can stand in the way of making a difference. The panel included Kay Jowers, director of Just Environments, a joint project of the Nicholas Institute and the Kenan Institute for Ethics.

Joseph DeCarolis, administrator of the U.S. Energy Information Administration, recently delivered the keynote presentation at the 2023 Energy Data Analytics Symposium.

During Energy Week at Duke (Nov. 6-10, 2023), members of the university community will explore strategies for swiftly advancing an equitable clean energy transition. Organized by Duke students from diverse undergraduate and graduate degree programs, this year’s Energy Week events feature insights from industry and community leaders along with opportunities to compete, network and share ideas.

Faculty and staff are invited to connect with Francis Bouchard, whose residency will focus on the insurance sector’s role in addressing the climate crisis. He will be on campus Nov. 14–16 ahead of the January start of his residency. He will give a talk to the Duke community on Nov. 14.

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 winners from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and University of Montana were among two dozen emerging scholars and energy professionals from around the country who submitted five-minute lightning talk videos on their own work or a big idea.

The Southeast Electric Transportation Regional Initiative (SETRI), which is co-facilitated by Duke's Nicholas Institute and the Georgia Tech Strategic Energy Institute, was named one of three finalists in the Transportation category of the 2023 Cleantech Innovation Awards. The Research Triangle Cleantech Cluster will announce the winners during a ceremony on Nov. 16.

A photo exhibit at Duke's Kenan-Keohane Gallery spotlights the ongoing influence in the environmental justice movement of protesters who stopped a toxic waste landfill in Warren County more than four decades ago. “It’s important for the Duke community to understand the story of Warren County and other grassroots movements so that we can incorporate environmental justice into all of our sustainability efforts," Kay Jowers, director of the Just Environments program, told NC Health News.

Podcast: Plastic Policies External link

Rachel Karasik, senior policy associate at the Nicholas Institute, and Zoie Diana (PhD '23), now a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto, joined WUGA's Aquathread podcast to talk about their work on plastics policy, including development of the Plastics Policy Inventory.

The G7's Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment aims to build quality, sustainable infrastructure in developing countries in competition with China's Belt and Road Initiative. Elizabeth Losos, executive in residence at the Nicholas Institute, talked with Voice of America about tools that the United States can utilize to mobilize private sector investment to meet its $200 billion pledge for the program.