@bostonuniversity 's first-ever Geospatial Technologies Symposium brought 140+ students, faculty, and staff together to explore the power of geographic and mapping tools through student posters, expert panels, and hands-on exhibits. 🗺️ This event was organized by several IGS affiliates alongside colleagues from across BU!
Patricia Fabian (@busph & IGS) was awarded the individual Resilient Boston Award at the Boston Climate Leader Awards, hosted by @mayorwu and the @cityofboston ’s Environment Department. 🎉 Fabian is an environmental health leader whose data-driven research has helped prepare local frontline communities and public schools to face extreme heat and climate change with resilience. Full story in bio!
(Mayor’s Office Photo by Jeremiah Robinson)
When a disaster like a hurricane devastates a community, how do we rebuild? Darien Alexander Williams (@busocialwork ) believes forging long-term partnerships between researchers, community members, and decision-makers is a path to constructing just futures. His paradigm for community partnership started with a project in Florida and recently expanded to Vietnam, Turkey, Ecuador, and more. 🔗 Read more at the link in our bio.
ENERGIZE NRT 2026 Symposium ✅
This exciting one-day conference, hosted at @bostonu , brought together computational scientists, materials researchers, and energy industry leaders to discuss interdisciplinary solutions to environmental issues. Through keynote talks, faculty presentations, and student poster sessions, the event created a space for sharing cutting-edge research, strengthening academic–industry connections, and highlighting emerging talent within the ENERGIZE program.
The ENERGIZE program, hosted by IGS and funded by the National Science Foundation, empowers graduate students to think bigger about sustainable energy storage and conversion.
Can we ever have enough AI? Norway provides an interesting case study. The country has historically had an abundance of clean energy, which has increasingly been channeled into energy-intensive data centers, many of which are now posed to power AI. IGS Visiting Researcher Mads Dahl Gjefsen's work examines the social costs this industry has had, especially on those living in proximity to data centers. He presented at a recent IGS lunch seminar.
A major highlight from last week’s ENERGIZE NRT Annual Symposium: the Industry Panel brought together four executives shaping the clean energy transition, including IGS board member Penni McLean-Conner of @eversourceenergy ! The panelists' insights helped students understand the current landscape and what a future career in the energy industry could look like, providing the perfect end to a day full of interdisciplinary exchange focused on advancing sustainable energy solutions.
Cheers to beautiful spring weather and time spent together 🌸 Team I Get Steps (IGS) has dusted off our FitBits and put in our smoothie orders. We're off to a strong start for this year's @bostonu Terriers Trek Through Boston Challenge, gathering as many steps as we can!
In a pair of new studies, IGS researchers investigate what happens to solar panels and electronic waste after they’ve been discarded. The studies identify sustainability concerns and illuminate opportunities for improved transparency and justice. In one study, the researchers detail operations inside an electronic waste recycling facility reliant on incarcerated inmates who are exposed to toxic materials. In the other, the team finds that solar panels designated for recycling are often quietly landfilled. Links in bio.
This research is supported by the Sloan Foundation through a project with IGS focused on examining injustices in US energy supply chains.
A well-documented truth: coal mining harms human health. A parallel truth: shuttering mines without consideration for people economically dependent on the industry can harm health, too. To optimize human health, a just clean energy transition will require intentional job creation in regions economically dependent on coal, conclude researchers behind a new publication in Rural Sociology.
Join us for lunch next Tuesday, April 14, to hear from IGS Visiting Researcher Mads Dahl Gjefsen, an expert on governance issues and challenges around data centers in the Nordic region. As the data center sector booms in the U.S. and globally, he shares lessons from Norway. Learn more in bio.
This event is part of Earth Day 365, a series of events across Boston University that highlights the importance of protecting our planet every day.
Inspiring and connecting the next generation of interdisciplinary problem-solvers. 💡 ENERGIZE, supported by the NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Program, equips PhD students to tackle sustainable energy through convergent graduate education. The ENERGIZE team recently networked with leaders from NRTs across the country at the 2026 NRT Annual Meeting in Colorado. Learn more about ENERGIZE at their upcoming event - RSVP in our bio!
