Sustainability & Environment

Spectral biology pioneer Jeannine Cavender-Bares PhD ’00 uses light to analyze plants—including the 5.5 million specimens in Harvard’s collection—to understand biodiversity and the changing climate.

For his senior capstone project, mechanical engineer Brice Austin SB ’25 developed a prototype of a liquid window, which uses layers of fluid to more efficiently heat and cool buildings. 

James Reinhart MBA/MPA ’09, co-founder of ThredUp—a leading online platform for secondhand clothing that diverts textiles from the landfill—discusses finding success in the circular economy.

Published in 1993, Harvard Chan School’s landmark Six Cities Study—which led to policies curbing air pollution, saving hundreds of thousands of lives—continues to inspire researchers today.

At Harvard Forest in Petersham, Massachusetts, ecologists are studying the effects of climate change on the landscape—and seeing the damage in real time. The 4,000-acre forest and its trove of collected data, which attract researchers from around the globe, is a true labor of love for the faculty who work there and key to understanding what a warming world means for nature—and for humans.

The Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability announced a sixth round of seed grant awards for work on understudied and emerging topics in climate and sustainability. Among other things, Harvard researchers will examine chocolate production in a changing climate, new materials to harvest moisture, and Kazakhstan's green transition.

As a promising alternative to existing carbon capture technologies, researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have developed carbon capture systems that use molecules called quinones, dissolved in water, as their capturing compounds.

In her role at Colorado State University, Harvard Business School alumna Jordan Kraft Lambert MBA ’16 serves as the nexus for farmers, entrepreneurs, and researchers working to improve agriculture and protect the planet.

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 help from Harvard Innovation Labs, Aatish Patel ALM ’22 and Alex Urist have gone public with a faster, more affordable charger that’s changing how EVs are charged across North America.