Sustainability & Environment

By studying ecosystems from the Arctic to the tropics, Arnold Arboretum faculty fellow Benton Taylor aims to find out if plants will absorb enough carbon in the future to offset human activity.

Inspired by how some animals use their skin to regulate body temperature, the lab of Harvard chemistry professor Joanna Aizenberg is developing ways to use a building’s exterior to control indoor climates.

The Climate Change and Planetary Health concentration will help students at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health understand the consequences of the planetary health crisis, including the effects on food, water, air, extreme weather events, heat, migration, and political stability and their subsequent impacts on infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases, nutrition, and mental health.

Harvard assistant professor and physician Garaub Basu is collaborating with students, clinicians, and leaders to embed climate change into medical curricula and continuing medical education.

Air pollution from gas and propane stoves has caused about 50,000 current cases of childhood asthma nationwide, and people living in smaller homes are more likely to be affected, according to a new study by researchers at Harvard and Stanford Universities.

For his dissertation, Thomas Lee AB ’19, PhD ’24 examined how historical microseisms—faint earth tremors recorded when storm waves crash onshore—might help predict future hurricanes.

During Harvard Climate Action Week, more than 70 participants traveled to Harvard Forest in central Massachusetts to learn how scientists at this 4,000-acre living laboratory capture data and partner with the Nipmuc people—whose ancestral land includes the forest—to guide research, conservation, and education efforts.

Edward Markey, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, and Carlos Curbelo, a former GOP representative from Florida, discussed bipartisan action on climate change in a discussion on the first day of Harvard Climate Action Week.

At Harvard Climate Action Week, experts discussed one of the biggest remaining unknowns in modeling the effects of climate change: the impact of thawing permafrost in the Arctic region, which could unleash large quantities of climate-warming methane.

At Harvard Climate Action Week, a panel of environmental leaders from New England Tribal Nations explained how traditional ecological knowledge can and should be leveraged to protect natural resources, preserve historical perspectives, and develop climate and environmental solutions.