📚 Sharing the love of research! IGS Summer Fellows collaborated with The Trustees of Reservations Outdoor Ambassadors. The two groups shared their research with each other and worked on refining elevator pitches together. Grateful for the partnership!

Trading the office for the outdoors! 🪏🌱 Our IGS team had a blast volunteering at the Besse Barnes garden with The Trustees of Reservations. We loved learning about Boston's community garden history on this beautiful summer day! ☀️ Thanks to everyone who got their hands dirty! 🙌

Many U.S. cities are planning for extreme heat, but not all are doing so equitably. A new study found larger cities lead in justice-centered heat planning, while smaller cities lag. Few address the needs of renters, gender minorities, and Indigenous peoples. Xiaofei Qin's research reveals the gaps.

Equity and justice in heat planning across small, midsize, and large cities in the US

Cities globally are facing growing concerns related to extreme heat. Given the uneven distribution of heat impacts within cities and among residents, …

sciencedirect.com

Meet Seongje Park (Chemistry), and Sheida Hooshmandi and Dorsa Mohammadi (@buearth.bsky.social), the IGS Graduate Student Summer Fellows from CAS! 🌏 These fellows are studying everything from plant pigments to climate aid programs and flood recovery. www.bu.edu/igs/get-invo...

Meet Jena Santi, the IGS Summer Fellow from @buquestrom.bsky.social! She is studying whether political pressure affects the alignment between mutual funds' public sustainability commitments and their investment behavior. Learn more about Jena: spr.ly/63323BEzEC9

👋 Welcome Tanai Dawson to IGS! Tanai, Research Fellow, brings expertise in data analysis, web development, and environmental advocacy. Learn more: www.bu.edu/igs/profile/...

Meet the IGS fellows from the College of Engineering - Alexander, who’s researching materials to capture atmospheric CO2; Lizzy, who's trying to improve AI model efficiency; and Jiguang, who’s studying how 5G/6G tech could make weather forecasts more accurate! Learn more: spr.ly/63322BEz8D2

New research by Ayse Coskun and colleagues shows AI data centers can provide 18-55% power flexibility to support grid stability. As these facilities reach 50+ GW by 2030, this flexibility could be critical for grid resilience. Published at ACM e-Energy '26. Read more: dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...

Investigating Power Consumption Flexibility of AI Data Centers for Demand Response Participation | Proceedings of the 17th ACM International Conference on Future and Sustainable Energy Systems

dl.acm.org

A warm welcome to IGS’s Fellows from @busph.bsky.social: Grace, who studies the pathways for decarbonizing heating and improving AC efficiency in Boston homes, and Feven, who studies the health effects of biomass fuel on children in Ethiopian homes. Learn more: spr.ly/63325BEKAn9

BU Earth & Environment professor and IGS associate director Cutler J. Cleveland published the op-ed “Improve Mass Save, don’t shrink it” in The Boston Globe, in which he argues that the energy efficiency program should be reformed rather than cut back. Read more: spr.ly/63322BEK2Tq

Improve Mass Save, don’t shrink it - The Boston Globe

Cutting funding to the state's landmark energy efficiency program will be costly in the long run.

spr.ly

@patriciafabian.bsky.social is increasingly bringing her community-led, transdisciplinary research approach to the world stage. "The idea is that there are diverse efforts underway all over the world, and we are helping cities learn from each other," Fabian says. Full Q&A ➡️

Community-led research is paving a path toward a more just clean energy future in New England. A multi-institution research team is working to understand, document, and amplify the experiences of two New England communities that have recently adopted offshore wind projects. Keep reading ➡️

How Many Ways Can We Measure Energy Justice? More Than 2,000, Finds BU Study.

By Alison Gold When a new clean energy project comes to town, people living nearby may have mixed feelings. Residents may be excited about the potential for new employment opportunities, community investments, and cheaper energy bills, but less thrilled about construction disruptions, noise, and other impacts.

spr.ly

Tawnya Smith’s book chapter “Must We Define Music as an Anthropocentric Endeavor? Toward an Eco-centric Identity” proposes a new approach to music education that includes non-human sounds as a form of music to help people connect with the natural world. 🎶🌳 link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

Ecological Transitions In and Through Music Education

This book contributes to future-focused, environmentally responsible, relationally & ecological discourse of music education professionalism.

link.springer.com

We’re welcoming Postdoctoral Associate Frederic Traylor to IGS! 👋 Dr. Traylor brings expertise in organizational sociology and science communication and will be researching barriers and pathways to renewable energy adoption and climate solution acceptance. Learn more: www.bu.edu/igs/profile/...

IGS & Pardee Center Summer Fellows came together to collaborate on sustainability research spanning climate adaptation, health equity, and more. Thanks to Patrick Keys for the insights and to our research community for the connections!

Boston University Researchers Team Up with Massachusetts to Launch New Clean Energy Tools Collaboration with the state produces online data tools that aim to help cities and towns implement greener energy programs.

Boston University Researchers Team Up with Massachusetts to Launch New Clean Energy Tools

Collaboration with the state produces online data tools that aim to help cities and towns implement greener energy programs

spr.ly

Invasive plants can dramatically change ecosystems, and a new paper in the journal Biological Invasions reveals more about how they do it. 🌲 The results support the idea of "invasional meltdown," in which invasive species help one another take over.

Evidence for invasional meltdown in plant-fungal co-invasions - Biological Invasions

Invasive symbiotic fungi have been transported around the world, but their role in the shaping of ecosystems is not fully understood. We experimentally tested whether the invasiveness of ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) affects the performance of their invasive and non-invasive plant hosts, focusing on the interaction between pine trees and widespread host-specific EMF in the genus Suillus. We individually inoculated pine species that span a gradient of invasiveness with Suillus species that vary in invasiveness. We found that pine performance responded positively to EMF invasiveness, particularly in highly invasive pine species, which underperformed when inoculated with less invasive EMF. Although invasive EMF species exhibited greater root colonization in all pine species, less invasive pine species had a weaker growth response to EMF invasiveness. Our findings provide evidence of fungal invasiveness as a crucial factor in plant host performance, especially in symbiotic interactions with highly invasive plants, reinforcing the concept of invasional meltdown.

spr.ly

Welcome to the third cohort of CELT Municipal Fellows! ☀️ This summer, they will join municipalities and regional planning agencies across Massachusetts to help advance clean energy, climate resilience, and sustainability projects in communities throughout the Commonwealth.

The Anthony Janetos Climate Action Prize was awarded to PhD student Pranav Sultania, who designed a compact and energy-conserving fluid pump for research labs inspired by squid propulsion. The Prize goes to one Campus Climate Lab project each year. www.bu.edu/articles/202...

Squid-Inspired Lab Technology Wins Student Team a Boston University Climate Award | The Brink | Boston University

A student-built device designed to make lab experiments cheaper, quieter, and more eco-friendly has won Boston University’s Anthony Janetos Climate Action Prize.  The fluid pump—which can be used to h...

bu.edu

NEW STUDY: US consumers prefer smartphones with sodium-sulfur (NaS) batteries over lithium ones, per Emily Ryan & colleagues. Preference for NaS batteries is bipartisan, especially when consumers are informed of their sustainability. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Sustainability benefits and science knowledge shape consumer preferences for novel smartphone battery technology in the United States

Sodium‑sulfur (NaS) batteries are a sustainable alternative to lithium-ion batteries (LIB) used today in personal electronics, transportation, and ene…

sciencedirect.com

"Center people, not pollutants," said @patriciafabian.bsky.social at Boston's Air Quality Summit. Poor air quality impacts respiratory health, cardiovascular function, cognition, memory & fertility. Community leaders, researchers & policymakers united to tackle air pollution & health inequalities.

Congratulations to IGS affiliated Marcel Rindisbacher and Lynne Allen on being named interim deans of the Questrom School of Business and the College of Fine Arts. Two academic and administrative leaders bringing decades of expertise to these critical roles. Both assume their positions on July 1.

The CELT Initiative unifies public resources and academic research expertise for climate resilience and workforce development. Read all about the interdisciplinary team advancing equitable clean energy in MA ⬇️

Boston University@bostonu.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Boston University Researchers Team Up with Massachusetts to Launch New Clean Energy Tools Collaboration with the state produces online data tools that aim to help cities and towns implement greener energy programs.

Ninety-three percent of gas-served homes had indoor methane concentrations higher than those in gas-free homes, find @nathanpboston.bsky.social & colleagues. Their new study is a step toward better understanding the potential health outcomes of in-home gas exposure: journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

Indoor methane consistently above outdoor levels in homes with natural gas service

Background Methane leaks across the natural gas process chain, including in homes. To date, no studies have described how common it is to have elevated methane in homes served by gas, in comparison to...

journals.plos.org

NEW: Through a collaboration with the state, IGS researchers are helping state agencies & municipalities address climate change and advance an equitable transition to green energy. They recently launched two new public tools to support local data-driven decision-making. www.bu.edu/articles/202...

Boston University Researchers Team Up with Massachusetts to Launch New Clean Energy Tools

Collaboration with the state produces online data tools that aim to help cities and towns implement greener energy programs

bu.edu

That's a wrap on the 2026 Terriers Trek Through Boston Challenge! Team "I Get Steps" collectively walked ~2,770 miles over the course of the challenge, the distance from Boston to Portland, OR. 👟🏅 Had a blast with collaborators across campus. Thankful for this @bostonu.bsky.social community!

Boston Climate Week energized our city—and our office. We hosted two packed events on climate education and solar geoengineering, bringing together officials, scientists, activists, and leaders and sparking new connections. Thank you to all who joined us.

Welcome Alexa Kwon to IGS! 🎉 Our new Communications Specialist brings expertise in design and environmental/life science communication. Learn more: spr.ly/63327B8DJiN

Celebrating two years of discovery, collaboration, and smiles as Postdoc Erin Heinz prepares to transition to her next role as a sociology professor. Erin supported IGS's partnership w/ Schneider Electric, leading research on the social, political, and economic hurdles to building decarbonization.

Kudos to @davabel.bsky.social & @ericbot73.bsky.social for organizing @misibu.bsky.social's "Stories from a Warming World." Journalists, filmmakers, activists, and scholars shared reflections on living on a changing planet. A powerful reminder of the power of storytelling, hosted at @wbur.org.