News

April 25, 2024

ELEVATE fellow, April Burrage will be an IDEAL Provostial Fellow in the Management Science and Engineering department at Stanford University. Similar to ELEVATE, the Management Science & Engineering department at Stanford focuses on interdisciplinary research in engineering, economics, and policy to solve complex societal problems. During her fellowship, April's research will explore the underrepresentation of women and minorities in STEM entrepreneurship and assess how institutions and public policy can address related market failures.

April 23, 2024

At UMASS Cielo has sharpened her focus on environmental justice, addressing the disproportionate negative impact of environmental disasters on vulnerable communities – namely, low-income and racial and ethnic minority communities. In 2021, with funding from the Institute of Diversity Sciences, she joined Dr. Christian Guzman – her PhD mentor – in an innovative research project that used innovative mapping and data analysis methods to identify which Massachusetts communities faced the greatest potential impacts from flooding. The team’s goal was to help policymakers ensure that flood mitigation and response efforts are socially and environmentally just and equitable.

April 17, 2024

A new paper by Toni Lyn Morelli published in Nature Climate Change, provides guidance on Aligning Renewable Energy Expansion with Climate-Driven Range Shifts. Dr. Morelli is a research ecologist with The Northeast Climate Adaptation and Science Center here at UMass.

April 16, 2024

Our colleague Juniper Katz has been named a Climate Policy Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute in recognition and support of Juniper's expertise and contributions on community engagement in relation to land use and conservation and challenges of the renewable energy transition. Juniper is SPP Faculty and active in the UMass Amherst Energy Transition Institute.

April 11, 2024

ELEVATE fellow Paola Pimentel Fulanetto won the 2024 UMass Graduate School Commitment to Diversity Award. Paola has integrated equity into every facet of her graduate work. Her thesis investigates the social equity impacts of carbon capture in the electricity system, and she developed and taught a freshmen seminar class on Equity in electrical systems. Paola has served as the president of UMass branch of INFORMS, a professional association for people who apply science, math, technology, and analytics to transform our world, and has worked extensively with Graduate Women in STEM. She has also done extensive outreach to many different ages and communities on energy access and energy justice. A well deserved award indeed!

March 29, 2024

ELEVATE fellows organized and led the ETI and ELEVATE sponsored 2024 Energy Transition Symposium. This highly attended event showcased the incredible work students and Postdocs from UMass and theFive colleges are doing to solve the most pressing challenges of the energy transition. While the work showcased covered a myriad of technical and social facets of energy transition, the running theme of the night was “What does a just energy transition look like, and how do we make it happen?”

The UMass Amherst Energy Transition Institute (ETI) recently hosted professor and researcher Cécile Renouard, president and co-founder of the new Campus of the Transition in France, while she was on a limited tour of U.S. college campuses to build collaborations and investigate innovative ways to incorporate equity and other social issues into sustainability education and in living labs.

February 27, 2024

ELEVATE Fellow Adam Lechowicz won a prestigious Department of Energy (DOE) Computational Science Graduate Fellowship. Adam is using the funding to develop novel theoretical foundations and algorithms to equitably decarbonize cloud computing. “Socially, a transition that only focuses on technical challenges may inadvertently exacerbate existing inequities if these are not explicitly considered in a system design. Considering both components is critical for developing an effective decarbonization strategy.” 

February 20, 2024

Prof. Krista Harper was interviewed by WHMP's Talk the Talk radio show about the Holyoke Community Energy Project and the launch of the new Energy Justice Leaders program in collaboration with Neighbor to Neighbor Holyoke and One Holyoke CDC. Harper discussed the need for a just renewable energy transition and for community-based energy research. The deadline for applications to join the Energy Justice Leaders program is Sunday, February 25; click here to apply. For more information, contact communityenergy@umass.edu .

February 12, 2024

The University of Massachusetts Amherst has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) to establish and lead the Academic Center for Reliability and Resilience of Offshore Wind (ARROW), a new multimillion-dollar national center of excellence to accelerate reliable and equitable offshore wind energy deployment across the nation and produce a well-educated domestic offshore wind workforce.

February 9, 2024

Catherine Coleman Flowers—internationally recognized environmental activist, critically acclaimed author of “Waste: One Woman's Fight Against America's Dirty Secret,” MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient, and Vice Chair of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council—will deliver a keynote address for Black History Month on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, at 5:30 p.m. in the Student Union Ballroom.

January 30, 2024

PhD Student and ELEVATE affiliate, Toni McElrath, has recently been appointed to the Town of Amherst Energy and Climate Action Committee. He hopes to help bridge the gap between academia and the community, working together to address environmental challenges and promote policies that support a greener and more sustainable future for Amherst.

January 24, 2024

Anupama Sitaraman ’24 uses computer science tools to explore pressing issues facing humanity, including combatting climate change and promoting sustainability. Her research involves using computer science techniques to explore ways to reduce carbon emissions in communities by replacing carbon-based energy with renewable energy.

November 15, 2023

In 2021, ETI hosted a series of NSF-funded workshops known as NSF2026 to identify research priorities at the intersection of energy technology and social justice. As a result of these workshops, a final paper including scholars from ten universities was recently published in the Annual Review of Environment and Resources: Metrics for Decision-Making in Energy Justice.

October 25, 2023

Professors Baker, Ash, and DV (from Industrial Engineering, Economics, and Chemistry) attended the Brown Sustainable Energy Workshop, an invited workshop sponsored by Brown University’s Initiative for Sustainable Energy. Baker was an invited speaker, talking about where offshore wind is going and why we should care.

October 11, 2023

Vivian Ogechi Nwadiaru, a UMass Amherst PhD candidate and ELEVATE Fellow from Nigeria, was recently featured in UMass News focused on her work at UMass while finding community as an international grad student. Nwadiaru’s work currently spans Nigeria and nearby Holyoke, Mass., where she conducts community-based participatory research with a team of interdisciplinary researchers led by Krista Harper, professor of anthropology and public policy.

October 10, 2023

In June 2023, Prof. Krista Harper was invited to present her team’s research on community and expert perspectives on the energy transition at the biennial Energy Anthropology Network Workshop in Lisbon on “Renewable Energy & Post-Carbon Futures.” The research presented is part of ongoing community-based participatory research on energy issues at the household and community level in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

August 20, 2023

UMass Amherst Professor of Anthropology & Public Policy, Krista Harper, and her team of 12 researchers and four co-investigators, in partnership with the community organization Neighbor to Neighbor, will officially launch the Holyoke Community Energy Project by meeting with Holyoke residents next month.

August 10, 2023

This year’s CEET / ETI summer students participated in a Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium, a joint event involving many groups across campus with REU Programs including MURALS, RIDE, CEET, CAST, Lee-SIP, and Plant Biology.

View the final list of REU students, home institutions, UMass advisors and project topics. This is a joint REU Program with projects available through both the UMass Energy Transition Institute (ETI) and the Computing for an Equitable Energy Transition (CEET) program.

July 12, 2023

Over two dozen undergraduate college students from around the US arrived on campus last month. They are spending their summer working with mentors on projects through both the UMass Energy Transition Institute (ETI) and the Computing for an Equitable Energy Transition (CEET) program, aiming to solve challenges of the energy transition in an in equitable way.

June 30, 2023

College of Engineering Dean Sanjay Raman shared the news that the UMass Amherst Board of Trustees has appointed Professor Matthew Lackner as one of three College of Engineering faculty to named professorships. In 2020, Lackner was the PI on two NSF grants that supported the creation of ELEVATE—the graduate training and research program within ETI that focuses on technical, equity, and climate challenges within the energy transition—which he also currently directs.

May 15, 2023

The second annual Energy Transition Symposium organized by the Energy Transition Institute, in partnership with several co-sponsors including the Wind Energy Center and ELEVATE program, wrapped up a few minutes ago. Over 50 students from across the entire campus presented their work on clean energy, climate, and decarbonization. Hundreds of visitors attended throughout the day.

May 8, 2023

Fifty Holyoke residents met in Holyoke, MA, for the first Holyoke Community Energy Project workshop. The attendees joined focus groups at tables facilitated by ETI researchers who came to understand the desires and concerns of residents regarding the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

April 24, 2023

The Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Sustainable Engineering Lab [SEL] was held today. ELEVATE student, Vivian Ogechi Nwadiaru, provided remarks on the impact this will have on future engineering students' ability to collaborate across disciplines on sustainable energy production and practices.

April 19, 2023

A successful faculty networking event bridged new connections and deeper conversations. With the aim of fostering new teams for research proposals, ETI worked collaboratively with the Institute for Social Science Research (ISSR) and The Public Interest Technology Institute (PIT@UMASS) to bring together over 30 faculty for a half-day of lightning talks and a networking lunch.

November 9, 2022

Dr. Baker provided a lecture on Climate Change Solutions: Finding Common Ground When Experts and Models Disagree in the 2023 Distinguished Faculty Lecture Series

John A. Black student research award from the Geological Society of America

October 20, 2022

The paper outlines action items for government agencies and philanthropic institutions to actively commit to an equitable energy transition.

September 30, 2022

University news recently featured UMass Amherst Clean Energy Extension, which provides technical assistance to municipalities, conducts applied research, and offers workforce training to achieve the Commonwealth’s sustainability goals.

September 28, 2022

Around 30 ELEVATE program faculty, students and affiliates gathered on September 28 for their first meeting. Professors Sanjay Arwade and David Irwin gave an intro to floating offshore wind turbine design and challenges. A competition was held amongst 6 teams to create model turbine platforms using simple materials.

August 12, 2022

ETI/ELEVATE students, faculty and peers took a tour of America’s first offshore wind farm in Rhode Island last week. They were accompanied by a manager from Orsted, the company which owns and operates the Block Island Wind Farm.

August 9, 2022

The ETI-sponsored Research Experience for Undergraduates program (REU) concluded on July 29, 2022 with student poster presentations on their projects at the intersection of energy technology and social equity.

August 2, 2022

Angie Gregory has been selected as the Associate Director of ETI. In her new role, she will lead efforts to integrate different ways of thinking about technology and social equity in the energy transition.

June 13, 2022

ETI Director Erin Baker is quoted in an article by Popular Science entitled “Offshore wind has been slow to take off in the US. Here’s what could change that.”

High costs and logistical hoops have held back the technology for years.

June 9, 2022

ETI’s REU Program began this week, providing 8-week long intensive research experiences. Students are paired with UMass advisors, working on projects at the intersection of energy technology and social equity.

May 3, 2022

More than 150 faculty, students and community members attended the first annual Energy Transition Symposium. The event, sponsored by ELEVATE and partners, showcased energy transition research and campus climate action from the five-college community.

ETI Director Erin Baker is quoted in an article by New England Public Media related to the new Carbon Zero Program for the UMass Amherst Campus.

The goal is for all buildings on the 1,500 acre campus is to be using 100% renewable energy by 2032.

April 14, 2022

U.S. Senator Ed Markey and Congressman Jim McGovern joined UMass on April 14th for a press conference with remarks from UMass Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy to celebrate the FY22 Congressional allocations that UMass Amherst received, including $1M for the Energy Transition Institute.

Feb. 28, 2022

ETI made its official public debut on campus on February 28, 2022, including a panel discussion with remarks from UMass Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy and U.S. Senator Ed Markey.

Jan. 21, 2022

Professor Baker, Faculty Director of ETI, discusses why she chose to enter her area of study, courses she teaches at UMass, and her current research in the ELEVATE program.

Dec. 15, 2021

New report from UMass Amherst’s Political Economy Research Institute also includes environmental justice indicators. This work was co-led by Michael Ash, ELEVATE faculty mentor and Acting Faculty Director of ETI.

Dec. 10, 2021

A news article on the UMass Research Gateway highlights how ETI and ELEVATE are paving the way for a more environmentally sustainable and just energy system.

The award from Massachusetts Dept. of Energy Resources recognized the efforts of the UMass Amherst Carbon Mitigation Taskforce led by Ezra Small and Dwayne Breger.

Nov. 19, 2021

Cielo Sharkus, ELEVATE Fellow and PhD Candidate in Civil and Environmental Engineering, was selected to serve as an external reviewer for a report by the Initiative for Energy Justice (IEJ).

Nov. 16, 2021

ELEVATE Fellow John Wamburu presented research and Prashant Shenoy delivered a keynote address at a workshop on Fair, Accountable, Transparent, and Ethical AI for Smart Environments and Energy Systems.

Nov. 4, 2021

For many countries, embracing the switch to renewables is the best strategy to reduce costs, according to a study by an international team including Gregor Semeniuk at UMass Amherst, recently published in Nature Energy.

Oct. 24, 2021

New research by a team of ELEVATE students and faculty find that energy efficiency subsidy programs may inadvertently target high-income households, unless they take equity into account.

Oct. 1, 2021

The sculpture project created by Carolina Aragón, along with social science research led by Ezra Markowitz, was honored for its innovative approach to communicating the impacts of climate change.

Aug. 14, 2021

Erin Baker and Anna Goldstein have authored a perspective piece in Energy and Climate Change, along with Inês Azevedo of Stanford University.

Aug. 2, 2021

Baker, faculty director of ETI, delivered a TEDxAmherst talk titled, “Energy justice: who gets listened to?”

June 19, 2021

ETI has been awarded a grant from the American Public Power Association to explore innovative electric distribution solutions.

April 14, 2021

Research led by UMass PhD student Zeal Shah, with ELEVATE faculty mentor Jay Taneja, reveals relationship between racial status and the power outages that endangered 4.5 million Texans.

Sep. 2, 2020

Program to explore and develop pathways to transition to sustainable energy while also promoting the socioeconomic equity of communities

June 18, 2020

UMass Magazine feature highlights faculty and student excellence in the science and engineering of renewable energy.

Sep. 19, 2019

The ETI planning team at UMass wishes to enhance growing interest in renewable energy by bringing together the many UMass faculty engaged in energy-related research to support a transition.