Shant Ispendjian ’28 founded Saving the Sea, a local effort focused on beach cleanups and community engagement, in high school. Today, the ENVS concentrator's idea has evolved into an award-winning nonprofit that helps students translate environmental research into policy and action. Learn more:

After a powerful heatwave swept across the northeast last week, Possibly turned to its archive, looking for lessons about how to better prepare for extreme heat. This week we're traveling to Ahmedabad, India in an episode from 2021 to see how health officials rethought extreme heat preparedness.

Congratulations to all of the faculty members recognized in this article, including IBES Prof Dov Sax and affiliates @maratimes.bsky.social (DEEPS), Shanti Morell-Hart (@brownanthro.bsky.social), and Jim Head (DEEPS)!

Widespread use of air conditioners puts a huge strain on the electrical grid during heat waves — and now data centers are posing an additional threat as record-breaking temperatures hit the US, IBES Director @kimcobb.bsky.social told @arielwittenberg.bsky.social @politico.com. Read more:

Climate change could redraw the map of flu seasons across the Americas, a @brown.edu study has found, easing winter outbreaks in colder regions while driving them higher in the tropics. Researchers traced the pattern to a surprising rule—flu spreads most easily in either very dry or very humid air.

“Make no mistake,” IBES Director @kimcobb.bsky.social told @afreedma.bsky.social @cnn.com, “the primary driver for the uptick in deadly heat waves across the world is the burning of fossil fuels.” Read the full story: www.cnn.com/2026/07/01/c...

With the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence this year, fireworks will soon light up American skies. This week on Possibly we're asking if these tiny explosions impact the environment or our health? www.oceanstatemedia.org/news-and-cul...

New research from Brown University geologists provides the first direct evidence that Alaska’s Aleutian Islands underwent a massive uplift 5 to 7 million years ago, driven by a rotation of the Pacific tectonic plate.

Read insights from IBES & @brown-epi.bsky.social Asst Prof @rebaker.bsky.social and graduate affiliate Aleksandra Stamper in @brownpublichealth.bsky.social's new article! ⤵️

Announcing the @sacnas.bsky.social Earth STEM chapter. This new chapter is discipline based as opposed to being affiliated with an institution. Those interested in atmospheric, geological, ocean, polar & related sciences should join. Please share broadly. docs.google.com/forms/d/1aGH...

“What do we know?” asked IBES Prof Meredith Hastings, leader of the Breathe Providence air monitoring network, at a meeting about the future of the Port of Providence. “We know there’s a lot of bad stuff in the air. Sometimes it’s illegal. It’s definitely cancer-causing.” @ecorinews.bsky.social

Dev Patel joins the Brown University community as an Assistant Professor of Environment and Society & Economics on July 1! A Harvard alumnus and internationally engaged scholar, Patel brings expertise in climate adaptation, nature-based solutions, remote sensing, and weather insurance. Learn more:

WATCH | “Subjects of the Sun”: Rethinking solar justice – During a book talk hosted by @brown-ibes.bsky.social, environmental anthropologist and professor Myles Lennon challenged audiences to see solar energy as not only a climate solution, but a reflection of deeper social and economic inequities.

IBES affiliate and @brownphysics.bsky.social Prof @bradmarston.bsky.social recently explored the links between climate science and physics during a roundtable discussion at @apsphysics.bsky.social's Global Physics Summit. Read Marston's insights and learn more about his research ⤵️

El Niño is a natural climate pattern characterized by increased global temperatures. Could climate change be making the phenomenon's effects more intense? IBES Director @kimcobb.bsky.social weighed in for @chicoharlan.bsky.social @nytimes.com ⤵️

Postdoc opportunity 📢 IBES seeks candidates for distinguished Voss Postdoctoral Fellows in any field relevant to environmental research. Appointments start July 2027 with an expected term of two years. Submit step-one proposals by Sept 1! ibes.brown.edu/opportunitie...

New paper from my group led by PhD student Aleksandra Stamper on the environmental drivers of influenza across tropical and temperate locations. @pandemiccenter.bsky.social @brownpublichealth.bsky.social @brown-ibes.bsky.social academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...

Rodenticides, used by farmers to keep rodent populations down and protect their crops, can cause all sorts of harm to wildlife, especially birds. This week on Possibly we're talking to some farmers who are turning to a more natural pest control solution: Owls!

Please join us in a moment of silence to mark 6 months since the shooting that occurred on Brown's campus. We acknowledge the void left by the two students we lost & the pain that our community has carried since. We recognize our community’s grief, resilience & continued healing. We are ever true.

Check out this new paper — led by grad affiliate Sebastian Muñoz, with IBES and DEEPS profs @danibarra.bsky.social & Laurence Smith, postdoc Gavin Piccione, grad affiliate Sarah Esenther, and @uafairbanks.bsky.social colleagues — in @agu.org's Geophysical Research Letters ⤵️

Congratulations to ENVS concentrators Riley Brooks '28 & Julia Sayre '27, who won apprenticeships with the Anne Saxelby Legacy Fund this summer! Through ASLF, Brooks will work at @snugharborccbg.bsky.social and Sayre will work at Blackeyed Susan’s Sheep Dairy. Learn more about the 2026 class:

IBES Dir. @kimcobb.bsky.social says a “proposal to base funding decisions on alignment with the [Trump] administration’s agenda is a particularly acute threat for climate & weather funding, which protects our nation’s infrastructure, economy, agriculture, public safety & national security.” @cnn.com

Great news. Way to go @brown.edu! And thanks to the folks at @brown-ibes.bsky.social who helped make it happen.

As Brown moves toward a pledge to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, the University will take a major step toward decarbonization and energy resiliency by creating a modern, sustainable thermal energy system on its College Hill campus.

Through the Brown University Swearer Center for Public Service's Royce Fellowship program, eight students affiliated with IBES will conduct community-engaged research spanning environmental justice, food sovereignty, conservation biology, and Indigenous land stewardship. Learn more:

This week on Possibly, in the second installment of our series on the dairy industry, we’re turning our attention to an age-old method used to efficiently store cheese: the earth. Listen to this week's episode to hear how local farmers are looking to the soil to keep their cheese cool.

Congrats to the recipients of the Brown Population Studies and Training Center's 2026 Seed Awards! This year's awardees include IBES & PSTC Research Prof Elizabeth Fussell, IBES affiliate & Brown University Department of Education Prof Matthew A Kraft, and IBES affiliate & Sociology Prof John Logan.

The IBES-led Equitable Climate Futures initiative has announced its new awardees! Projects range from food equity to Indigenous climate action: https://ecf.brown.edu/news/2026-05-11/ecf-2026-awards Brown University Department of Education Brown University School of Public Health Brown Anthropology

IBES & @brown-epi.bsky.social Asst Prof @rebaker.bsky.social is lead author of a new review article in @natmed.nature.com ⤵️ @pandemiccenter.bsky.social @brownpublichealth.bsky.social

We talk a lot about the carbon pollution that comes along with eating beef, but this week on Possibly we’re asking: what about dairy? How do they compare? Reporter Samantha Zhang explains in our latest episode: www.oceanstatemedia.org/news-and-cul...

During Commencement Weekend, community members gathered for the ENVS Cocktail Party, scholars shared insights at IBES' "Ocean Health, Our Health" forum, and families celebrated as the ENVS Class of 2026 received their diplomas 🎓🐻🌎 #Brown2026 View our weekend recap: ibes.brown.edu/news/2026-05...

"Two books about China’s ancient past" — including IBES & @brownhist.bsky.social Assoc Prof Brian Lander's "The King's Harvest" — "offer very different perspectives on its place in the world today," Tobie Meyer-Fong writes for @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social. lareviewofbooks.org/article/anci...

This week on Talking Headways, Jaime Benavides and Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou of Brown University discuss their new paper showing how community severance by road infrastructure and traffic has led to more mental health-related hospital visits in New York City.

Congratulations, ENVS Class of 2026! Sunday's rain couldn't dampen the spirits of our graduates and their families, as dozens of community members gathered to celebrate students' academic journeys and all that lies ahead for the next generation of climate leaders 🌍🎓🐻 #Brown2026

When you go to the pharmacy you probably walk away with your medication in one hand, and a lengthy receipt in the other. What should you do with that receipt? This week we explain why the paper that receipts are printed on can add a lot of complications for recycling, and for your health.

Happy Commencement, Class of 2026! Families, friends, and alumni are invited to watch along today around 2:30 p.m. as our Environmental Sciences and Studies graduates cross the stage and begin a new chapter: http://bit.ly/IBES-DC-26

Join us tomorrow for IBES' Commencement Forum, "Ocean Health, Our Health"! Can't make it in person? Watch along via livestream: livestream.brown.edu/ibes @miriamgoldstein.bsky.social @usoceanprotection.bsky.social @baylorfk.bsky.social @rebecca-altman.bsky.social @kimcobb.bsky.social

Elizabeth Fussell, a research professor in IBES and the Population Studies and Training Center, offered commentary on how projected sea-level rise in coastal Louisiana may impact the region’s population. @fridagarza.bsky.social @grist.org reports ⤵️

Supported by IBES faculty and alumni mentors, a team of Brown undergraduates advanced to the finals of a global impact investing competition last month, placing third overall against dozens of graduate teams from around the world. Learn more:

For a member of Congress, RI Senator Sheldon Whitehouse is uniquely outspoken about climate change, the Providence Journal reports. IBES Prof & @cssn.org Executive Director @timmonsroberts.bsky.social offered commentary, noting that Whitehouse should serve as an example for other lawmakers.

Truffles are famous for their intense flavor, and their expensive price. This week on Possibly we explain why a warming planet, and increasing droughts, might be driving those prices even higher. Listen at the link below, or wherever you get your podcasts

Through collaborations with IBES faculty affiliate @maratimes.bsky.social and IBES-based air monitoring project Breathe Providence, South Providence residents are working to understand how pollution is affecting their community. Read the full story from @ecorinews.bsky.social:

A study led by IBES graduate affiliate Andrea Mason (Earth, environmental, and planetary sciences) found that a 2012 wildfire in the Rwenzori Mountains was the first at the range’s highest elevations in 12 millennia — offering new insight into climate, fire and human activity in alpine ecosystems.

Trump’s War Is Punishing the Poor, Starting at the Gas Pump — Jeff Colgan wrote an opinion piece for New York Times Opinion on the rising energy costs of the war with Iran, citing Climate Solutions Lab's real-time tracking tool. https://ow.ly/xV6x50Z0nb0

Just over a week away! Join us in person or online for IBES' 2026 Commencement Forum, "Ocean Health, Our Health," ft. @miriamgoldstein.bsky.social @usoceanprotection.bsky.social, @baylorfk.bsky.social, @rebecca-altman.bsky.social, and @kimcobb.bsky.social. events.brown.edu/ibes/event/3...

IBES and Biology Prof Stephen Porder "was encouraged to see the deforestation rates in the Amazon fall," @insideclimatenews.org notes in a new article. "However, he said the region has seen lower rates and 'really the number needs to go to 0 very quickly.'"

Meet IBES Voss Fellow Liza Marcus ’26! As a member of Professor Meredith Hastings's lab, Marcus is unraveling the complex chemistry of nitrogen oxides and ozone in the atmosphere — work that could improve air quality predictions and inform environmental policy. Learn more:

IBES Director @kimcobb.bsky.social spoke to @fteva.bsky.social @financialtimes.com about increasing wildfire risk. “We’re going to have to be able to tackle multiple threats at once,” such as coastal flooding, hurricanes, & other climate disasters, Cobb said. “We don’t have the luxury of waiting.”

“Reducing your footprint” has become one of the most familiar ways to talk about climate change, but why did that framing catch on? And what does it leave out? This week on Possibly, we talk to @kimcobb.bsky.social, the director of @brown-ibes.bsky.social, to explain.

“We know there are consistent, harmful things about the PFAS family,” @brown-epi.bsky.social @brownpublichealth.bsky.social Prof & IBES affiliate Joseph Braun told @sierraclub.org. “Which is why we should reduce their use, particularly when there are alternatives.”