Upcoming

Class of '71 CAT Environment & Risk Subcommittee

The Economics and Politics of Climate Change

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

12:00 - 1:00pm EDT

online

Around the Network

Tech Group Meeting: Ammonia as Fuel

Tuesday, May 9                                                                         online

7:30 EDT

Jim Papadopoulos '79, PhD '86, will give a short presentation on the ability of ammonia to meet the need for no-carbon fuels. A discussion follows. Write to Bruce Parker '69 for the meeting link.

Who's coming to campus for reunion weekend?

EESN Chair Sarah Simon '72 will have a table for the Network at the Saturday, June 1, 2024, MIT Technology Day. This year the theme is current MIT climate research and innovation and what it means for our future. Stop by the EESN table to say hello, suggest some Network webinar topics, help with a challenge to see how many alums have EV's, solar panels or heat pumps, or pick up some MIT energy and climate resources.

Sign on as a alumni supporter on a letter to President Sally Kornbluth to set an “Earthshot” goal of 2035 for campus decarbonization. The letter urges MIT to intensify its leadership efforts for addressing climate change and be more inclusive of students in climate initiatives and their planning. John Dabels, SM '89, has been working with the student author, Megan Lim 2024, as part of the MACA Campus Decarbonization Team whose lead is Susan Murcott '90, SM '94. The student/alumni team has designed a way to eliminate campus GHG emissions by 2035, earlier than the MIT Fast Forward Climate target.

If interested, sign before this Monday! Final content will be set Sunday, May 5 after an on-campus student meeting, and sent the next day, Monday, May 6.

Alumni/ae News

Professor Deb Roy, SM '95, PhD '99, Director , MIT Center for Constructive Communication, published "How to Tackle Truth Decay" in the Atlantic Magazine on March 3. The lead example of expert/citizen information flow networks was the denial of any climate change contribution to the 2020 CA conflagrations.

The annual, student-run Sustainability Summit on April 26, 2024, Systems Change, heard from several alums. Keynoted by Professor Emeritus John Sterman, PhD '82, Diane Hoskins '79, Global Co-Chair of Gensler, Jeremy Gregory, SM '00, PhD '04, director of the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium (MSCS) and Greg Williams, MBA and SM '06, VP of Product, Sublime Systems, spoke in the Built Environment track. Heather Richardson, MCP '05, and Mazen Danaf, PhD '19, Uber Freight, spoke in the Transportation Track. Jason Jay PhD '10, wrapped up the discussions at the end of the day.

@ MIT

The annual Sustainability Summit Forum provided some answers to how MIT is working to decarbonize the campus by 2050. (presentation video). Joe Higgins, VP for Campus Services and Stewardship, again presented the building efficiency and renewable energy projects MIT is pursuing. Various teams reported on progress toward sustainable food systems, procurement, and safe and sustainable laboratories.

The MIT Office of Sustainability has also hosted Decarbonization Forum Round Tables as part of Campus Climate Action.

For Earth Day Week, the MIT Alumni Association posted a page of links to the articles about alumni/ae working on energy and climate that it published in Slice of MIT over the past year.

MIT Responsible AI for Social Empowerment and Education (RAISE) has developed three new, free online curricula, focused on the intersection of data science and climate change. Learn more here.

Fireside Chat | Get Smart Quickly on Climate Change from MIT, May 7, 2024 12:00 PM EDT. Laur Fisher of ESI and MIT Horizons discusses the resources of the MIT Climate Portal, the Journalism Fellows, and the interactive Climate Primer.

About EESN

Educate, Connect, and Act

The EESNetwork and its groups welcome all MIT alumni/ae to help make a difference in speeding up the transition to a clean sustainable economy and environmental restoration.

• New EESN home page
• EESN webinar list with links to available slides and recordings.
• Link to Wildfires and You, Class of '71, February 18, 2024
• MIT Links: MITEI, ESI, MIT Climate Portal, MIT Office of Sustainability (MITOS), and the new edX page, MIT on Climate Change.