Faculty & Research

With funding from the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability, new interdisciplinary research teams of Harvard faculty are taking on two of the biggest sources of planet-heating emissions: buildings and transportation. Combined, these account for over half the world’s carbon pollution.

With demand for air conditioning expected to soar 40 percent by 2030, Harvard startup Trellis Air uses a unique membrane to dry and cool air with far less energy than traditional ACs and dehumidifiers.

Harvard's Mittal Institute announced its first recipients of the Faculty Climate Research Grants, which are designed to foster deeper scholarly engagement on climate change in South Asia, catalyze the creation of new knowledge, and contribute to the development of sustainable solutions. 

Federally funded research by Harvard scholars has led to life-changing solutions to real-world problems facing millions of Americans, from preventing opioid deaths to treating diseases to building a better air conditioner.

Nonie K. Lesaux, Roy Edward Larsen Professor of Education and Human Development, has been named dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

From developing a better way to predict and prevent wildfires, to upcycling wool waste into building insulation, to convening insurance and climate change experts to address gaps in knowledge, five new interdisciplinary projects have received funding from the Salata Institute Seed Grant Program. 

Earth scientist Hong Yang, musician William Cheng PhD ’12, and computer scientist Narges Mahyar—all Radcliffe fellows—blend music, data, and visuals to increase climate change awareness.

A brain cell study by scientists at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Harvard Medical School, and McLean Hospital shows that a genetic mutation expands over decades and becomes rapidly toxic later in life.

Inspired by a dog’s nose, researchers at Harvard have developed an affordable air quality sensor called Project Air that can detect and discern indoor pollutants with nearly 100 percent accuracy.

After experiencing Hurricane Katrina firsthand, Radcliffe Fellow Rob Verchick JD ’89 is examining the human-fueled disasters facing our oceans and how scientists, politicians, and the public can help.