Contents

A Letter from the Director 

By the Numbers 

Salata Institute’s Research Investment

Climate Action Accelerator 

Public Outreach 

Student Programs 

Courses and Reading Groups 

Alumni Engagement 

Appendix 1: Select Publications 

Appendix 2: Advisory Board 

Letter from Director James H. Stock

The path towards addressing the challenges of climate change has always had twists and turns, but the past twelve months have been extraordinary. The United States has seen dramatic shifts in federal policy and sharp reductions in funding for climate and sustainability research. Yet, fundamental climate science has not changed: if anything, the challenges of climate change are more pressing, the social, political, legal, and international environments are more complex, and the need for better low-carbon technologies are greater. Universities in general – and Harvard in particular – must continue to drive climate progress. 

Through the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability, Harvard is advancing an ever-growing portfolio of critical climate research and providing a home for long-term thinking and collaboration. The Institute is convening nonpartisan leaders to move forward and is preparing the next generation of leaders to confront climate change.  

This report offers an accounting of Institute-led efforts and accomplishments over academic year 2024-2025. Thanks to the enthusiasm and hard work of Harvard faculty, students, staff, and alumni, that story is long! But a few themes stand out. 

First: Harvard climate research is delivering practical benefits for people across the U.S. and globally. To name a few examples: Institute-affiliated researchers are working to improve predictions for how wildfire smoke will travel; producing research-based action plans that help cities save lives during heat waves; and developing AI-powered tools to save energy and lower bills.  

Second: Harvard is a force for long-term, sustained thinking and collaboration on climate change. For example, Institute-affiliated researchers are preserving data that could otherwise be lost between administrations; the new Global Climate Policy Project, a collaboration with MIT, is sketching a path for new international agreements to accelerate action even during turbulent times; the Salata initiative to Reduce Global Methane Emissions has convened over 800 stakeholders from industry, government, and civil society to work together towards durable approaches to limiting potent methane pollution.

Third, and perhaps most importantly: the Institute is working to ensure that a Harvard education prepares students for leadership in a world facing climate change. The Institute has directly supported hundreds of students this year and reached thousands more through research and project funding; professional development opportunities; internships; and more.  

This report details these and other activities and accomplishments of the Institute and its Harvard community. But there is much more to do. In the coming year, the Salata Institute will continue to expand Harvard’s world-class climate research and education. We will also leverage the University’s considerable convening power to create dialog between the diverse views on the energy transition, because understanding each is a necessary foundation for developing durable and  meaningful climate solutions. 

On behalf of our community, I am deeply grateful for your partnership as we rise to the occasion. 

James H. Stock, 

Vice Provost for Climate and Sustainability and Director of the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability at Harvard University 

The Salata Institute’s Research Investment 

Climate Research Clusters

Climate Adaptation in South Asia

This Salata Institute climate research cluster continues its work to advance climate adaptation research and implementation at the household, community, state, and federal levels in South Asia, particularly in the context of climate-driven migration.

To apply its research findings and advance climate resilience, in March 2025, the cluster team organized a three-day conference in New Delhi bringing together almost 200 leading experts in climate science, public health, medicine, labor, business, agriculture, and urban planning for a series of interdisciplinary dialogues with policymakers from around India. 

Participants examined how the country could adapt amid accelerated warming and more erratic monsoons. Scientists warned that surprises are inevitable, so preparation must start now: forecasts of rainfall and extreme heat should be tailored to specific users to turn climate information into actionable adaptation plans. At the agenda-setting conference, participants also focused on workers and the built environment. Across sessions a central question emerged: Should heat be framed as an episodic disaster or a chronic, routine challenge? Answering this will shape policy timescales and how resources are allocated.  

The team is not only collecting data, but also working with analysts and engineers to make it accessible to other researchers through the Climateverse platform.  

Purpose-built to close critical information gaps in India, Bangladesh and Colombia, Climateverse now hosts more than 100 curated datasets spanning weather, public health, energy, infrastructure, and livelihoods. Each dataset is paired with comprehensive metadata that spells out provenance, spatial and temporal resolution, uncertainty ranges, and download logistics – turning raw data into readily usable intelligence to support climate adaptation research. 

This year, Climateverse was selected for the AWS Impact Computing Project, which provides cloud resources that will scale both storage and analytics. In partnership with civil society groups on the ground, the researchers are developing community training modules for rollout in 2026. Parallel negotiations are underway to embed Climateverse datasets directly into state and national adaptation plans, ensuring that the insights generated translate into concrete resilience measures. 

Visit the cluster website here.

Reducing Global Methane Emissions 

Fast, deep methane cuts are the surest way to slow warming before mid-century.  

Twenty-eight faculty members, research fellows, and graduate students across Harvard University are collaborating on 22 distinct research and outreach projects to better detect, quantify, and develop innovative approaches to reducing emissions in the short term (for example, identifying and eliminating natural-gas leaks).  

The initiative is making methane leaks visible. Version 2.0 of the Integrated Methane Inversion tool, developed by the Harvard’s Atmospheric Chemistry Modeling Group in collaboration with NASA and other partners, allows users to infer location and quantities of emissions from satellite-based data on concentrations and from data on wind patterns. Importantly, IMI is easy to use by regulators, researchers, and emitters seeking to advance abatement. 

The team also pinpoints low-cost abatement across sectors, demonstrating cost-effective ways to reduce emissions. By linking detailed emission maps with local gas-price data, the researchers build supply curves that list how many tons of methane can be stopped at each price point, both in the short run and the long run. They also run full life-cycle studies of liquefied natural gas projects to test whether new export terminals raise or lower total greenhouse gas emissions, giving decision-makers hard numbers instead of marketing claims. 

Livestock produces about 40 percent of human-made methane emissions. Engineers on the team have finished the circuit-board design for a wearable sensor that clips onto cattle and measures their methane burps in real time; field trials begin this summer. Other researchers compare how different countries speed the use of feed additives, and Harvard Law School has supplied the first map of state-level farm methane rules, giving governors a clear menu of actions that reduce emissions without hurting food supplies. 

The initiative pairs research with targeted engagement of governments, businesses, NGOs, and international bodies to improve measurement and attribution of emissions, craft effective U.S. and international laws and regulations, and mobilize corporate and multilateral action, delivering near-term climate benefits while longer-horizon strategies are debated. 

Visit the cluster website here. 

Climate Adaptation in the Gulf of Guinea 

Science-based, locally informed solutions help West African coastal communities protect their homes, fisheries, and economies from accelerating sea-level rise and climate threats.  

When he visits coastal villages outside Accra, John Kusimi, a geographer at the University of Ghana, says residents have no doubt what is causing their beaches to vanish, their villages to flood, and their livelihoods to wither. 

“You don’t need anyone to tell you it’s climate change. Local people have their own ways of measuring the changes, which they attribute to climate change. Most people are adapting on their own, without support,” Kusimi told an interdisciplinary and international team of researchers at a Harvard University workshop in December: “Resilient Coasts: Sustainable Frameworks for Climate Adaptation in the Gulf of Guinea.” 

The workshop brought together members of an ambitious Salata Institute-sponsored research team to discuss their 2024 fieldwork in Nigeria, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire. By pairing climate scientists with economists, landscape architects, and other social scientists, the team is addressing physical, social, and economic adaptation in areas with limited government capacity. The Harvard researchers are also training scientists in the region to monitor sea-level rise, using the scientific findings and survey results to engage government ministries, NGOs such as the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, and local universities.  

“Africa is lagging behind in terms of data,” said Rebecca Berkoh-Oforiwaa, a Salata Institute fellow, who is bridging physics and data analysis to recreate missing sea-level data along thousands of miles of coast from Senegal to Mozambique. “Our reconstruction is providing information about the past, to understand the present and to help inform policymakers’ adaptation strategies.” 

The effects of climate change are not limited to the coasts. Seasonal rainfall patterns are becoming unstable, hurting the cocoa farms that are an economic mainstay in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, while flooding traditionally dryer regions in the north. 

Peter Huybers, chair of Harvard’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, observed that in 2024 a globe-circling, equatorial band of rain called the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) had moved further north than ever before, part of a multi-year shift with implications for agriculture and food security. 

“We are trying to understand the migration of the ITCZ so we can better predict rainfall,” Huybers said. “Developing sustainable agricultural practices further north depends on knowing what that future rainfall is going to look like and if the changes to the ITCZ are just an anomaly.” 

Cocoa growers, he added, “need a deeper understanding of how climate change is going to influence the patterns of rainfall if they are to invest in the future.” 

The researchers are developing a framework that pairs demographic pressure points with sea-level-rise and storm-surge modeling to evaluate six adaptation pathways across the Gulf of Guinea. The goal is to equip local communities and policymakers with evidence-based strategies to navigate the decline in fisheries, coastal vulnerability, and broader climate-adaptation challenges. 

Visit the cluster website here. 

Corporate Net-Zero Targets 

Policymakers, investors, and watchdog NGOs have long lacked reliable, comparable data to judge whether “net-zero” claims translate into measurable emissions cuts. 

This project investigates whether U.S. companies’ climate pledges translate into actual greenhouse-gas cuts. By comparing firms with and without such commitments, quantifying resulting emissions, and probing implementation gaps, the project is pinpointing how legal frameworks, market pressures, and corporate governance shape target credibility. 

Central to this project has been the team’s creation of two comprehensive, high-quality datasets on corporate climate commitments that go far beyond what was previously available:  

• Firm-level climate-commitment dataset (based on the Russell 3000 index from 2000-2023). By stitching together disclosures, sustainability reports and Compustat data, the team has created the first holistic view of how virtually every publicly listed U.S. company sets emissions targets. 

• Utility-sector plant-level dataset. Because electricity generation drives most corporate scope 2 emissions, the team paired companies’ stated decarbonization goals with real-time CO₂ output from EPA and EIA databases. 

These datasets – which will be made public later this year – turn marketing slogans into testable propositions, enabling science-based target-setting, smarter capital allocation, and regulatory oversight, while equipping stakeholders with forward-looking risk analysis. 

The project team, which comprises faculty from the disciplines of environmental law, economics, policy, and sustainable business strategy across three Harvard schools, is preparing three papers on the datasets for peer review: (i) an introduction to the firm-level dataset with initial trends, (ii) an assessment of decarbonization progress in the utility sector, and (iii) an analysis of what drives companies to adopt climate commitments and whether those pledges accelerate emissions reductions. A Salata Institute white paper will serve as the methodological playbook for future researchers. 

Decarbonization hinges on coordinated action across academia, civil society and the private sector. During the year, the cluster hosted two convenings: (1) an October 2024 workshop on corporate climate commitments that engaged 32 scholars and NGO stakeholders and (2) an invitation-only December 2024 “Net Zero Freight Trucking Electrification Roundtable” for shippers and carriers, co-organized with EDF. These fora translate empirical findings into practical roadmaps. 

Collectively, these activities shift the climate conversation from aspirations to accountability. By delivering robust data, rigorous analysis, and inclusive dialogue, this research is producing the knowledge infrastructure required to align corporate behavior with the rapid emissions reductions that climate science demands. 

Visit the cluster website here. 

Strengthening Communities 

Communities are getting the practical tools they need as they confront political and institutional roadblocks to fair, people-centered climate and energy solutions. 

This purpose of this project is to accelerate energy transitions by working with communities at the forefront of energy transition and climate change. The research is focusing on the political and social hurdles – ineffective public engagement ,permitting bottlenecks, fiscal dependencies, jurisdictional conflicts, data access, and credit-claiming – that often determine whether communities can benefit from promising clean technologies and new decarbonization policies. Every project is geared toward producing immediately usable resources for practitioners, such as datasets, playbooks, policy briefs, workshops, or stakeholder-informed recommendations to advance just, community-centered energy transitions. 

The interdisciplinary team of researchers is producing a policy playbook for state and city officials on decarbonizing transportation; mapping the hurdles that keep Tribal Nations from tapping federal funds; and analyzing utility commission files to explain delays in clean-energy permits. Researchers are supporting community engagement and regional governance innovation on Massachusetts’ North Shore, co-designing energy plans with Gulf Coast tribes, rescuing key environmental-justice data, and running a national webinar series on decarbonizing transportation. Workshops in places such as New Mexico help regions dependent on fossil fuel production design a fair transition to a green economy. 

Nearly 900 state, local, and tribal stakeholders have taken part in project-led events; three major reports and two national energy surveys are in circulation; and more than 400 federal environmental-justice actions have been logged for public use. Regular meetings of the new Harvard Sustainable Transportation Group add insights on low-carbon mobility, linking business, engineering, policy, and planning experts to keep the work useful to practitioners on the supply and demand sides of energy transitions. 

The outreach to policymakers and practitioners includes the monthly Harvard Sustainable Transportation Webinar Series, which explores how climate change influences the design, operation, and governance of transportation networks. The project team initiated the series in response to the federal government’s decision to eliminate similar convenings previously hosted by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The team is also making stakeholder- and community-informed contributions to the Salata Institute’s Climate Policy Working Group. 

Visit the cluster website here. 

Research Initiatives and Programs 

Driving Toward Seamless Public EV Charging 

As prices of batteries and electric vehicles fall, the greatest impediment to widespread adoption of lower-emitting EVs is the lack of reliable public charging infrastructure. With support from the Institute, a team of researchers from Harvard, the MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, and Georgia Tech is working to accelerate progress on public EV charging to facilitate the widespread use of EVs. 

This initiative has advanced on three tracks: knowledge-sharing for cities; academic and policy research on data and technology; and stakeholder-informed technical guidance. Collectively, the work is equipping government and industry decision-makers with data-driven tools and policy playbooks to make public EV charging more reliable, user-friendly, and accessible. 

The team’s 2024-25 engagement activities included: 

• Hosting a public webinar on “Best Practices for EV-Charging Programs in Cities,” showcasing procurement, curb-management and equity lessons from successful early-adopter locales. 

• Convenings for charging provider operators, auto manufactures, and regulators focused on identifying key charging impediments and on real-time charger data availability. 

• The first-ever academic workshop on EV charging 

The project also responded rapidly to inform the debate about rolling back IRA EV subsidies. A brief estimated the effect of proposed rollbacks on sales, emissions, and government spending, at a granular policy level. Those estimates were refreshed in June 2025.  

Visit the initiative website here. 

The Global Climate Policy Project 

The GCPP is a new Harvard-MIT initiative, with the Harvard component under the Salata Institute, aimed at accelerating global climate action outside traditional frameworks. GCPP is advancing a proposal to establish a coalition of countries committed to more ambitious climate action, building on the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The coalition would bring together a broader set of countries willing to coordinate on carbon pricing and related policies, beginning with a focus on a few key industrial sectors. Coalition member countries would commit to pricing industrial carbon emissions within their borders and applying border adjustments to imports from non-member countries, while also offering positive incentives, such as support for low-carbon technologies, climate finance, and preferential market access, to encourage broader participation. The goal is not only to reduce emissions, but also to align economic incentives, avoid policy fragmentation, and build a pathway toward a more inclusive and effective system of international climate cooperation. 

GCPP is engaging global policymakers and stakeholders to refine this proposal and build momentum ahead of COP30. A working group—comprising experts from the United States, Canada, Europe, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Senegal, and others—is preparing a flagship policy report for release at Harvard Climate Action Week in September 2025. GCPP is conducting outreach to elevate this policy report and catalyze a dialogue at COP30 among a set of countries to form a climate coalition. 

Visit the initiative website here. 

The Harvard Solar Geoengineering Research Program 

The SGRP aims to reduce uncertainties around solar geoengineering; generate critical science, technology, and policy insights; and help inform the public debate surrounding this controversial idea. Recognizing that solar geoengineering could not be a replacement for reducing emissions or adapting to climate impacts, SGRP draws on Harvard’s research capabilities and global convening power to provide the knowledge necessary in considering solar geoengineering as a supplement to broader mitigation and adaptation efforts. SGRP supports a broad array of natural science, social science, and humanities research, both at Harvard and in collaboration with other academic, civil society, and government organizations and institutions. 

The SGRP Seminar series met monthly throughout the academic year, and the program co-sponsored academic convenings with Resources for the Future in Washington, DC, in September 2024 and with the Degrees Initiative in Cape Town, South Africa, in May 2025. The SGRP Fellows Program supported Britta Clark, a recent Ph.D. from Harvard’s Department of Philosophy, whose work focuses on the ethics of solar geoengineering. Clark will continue for a second year in the program for the 2025-25 academic year. The program also launched an exploratory research grant program on solar radiation management for Harvard faculty. 

Visit the program website here. 

Salata Institute Seed Grant Program in Climate and Sustainability 

The Program funds faculty nascent research projects that use novel or interdisciplinary approaches to combat climate change. Launched in Spring 2023 with a generous gift from the Troper Wojcicki Foundation, the program has made 45 awards over seven funding cycles for a total of more than $1,000,000. Faculty from nearly all of Harvard’s Schools have received funding to pursue an array of challenges.  

Some of the funded projects in 2024 – 2025 are: 

Atmospheric water harvesting through soft engineered materials 

For at least a month per year, two-thirds of people around the world use more water than is naturally available to them. Water vapor harvested from the air in an energy-free, affordable, and decentralized way could help address the shortfall, but traditional methods require abundant land and produce limited quantities. 

Harvard researchers Joanna Aizenberg and Frank Keutsch of the Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have developed a new material that promises a three-fold increase in water harvest in temperate climates. With seed grant funding, they are assessing scalability and performance in non-laboratory settings at various humidities and environmental conditions. Their preliminary studies demonstrate that radiative cooling materials can also lower local ambient temperatures, potentially enhancing resilience during heat waves. 

Impacts of government-provided weather insurance: Evidence from India 

The project is investigating how the Indian rural poor are influenced by government crop insurance that protect against natural disasters such as flooding and drought. The research team, led by Emily Breza of the Department of Economics, examines how formal insurance drives network formation within villages and shapes the dissipation of shocks, and how social networks influence take-up of government insurance. Together, these two pieces of evidence shed light on how public policy can help the poor cope with changing growing and working conditions. 

New Aerial Monitoring Platforms for Wildfires 

Climate-change-fueled wildfires are increasingly responsible for the destruction of homes and businesses, the loss of human life, and billions of dollars in economic damage. New monitoring tools carried aloft by high-altitude long-endurance autonomous aircraft can provide data useful for advancing wildfire forecasts and helping fight these calamities on the ground. 

With seed grant funding, Jim Anderson from the Department of Chemistry and co-PI Craig Mascarenhas from the Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences are exploring the feasibility of using a suite of miniaturized instruments aboard a future generation of solar-powered aircraft to better measure and address climate-fueled wildfires. During an active fire a particle optical spectrometer mounted on a HALE flight can collect detailed information about smoke chemical composition and other information useful for identifying health hazards and providing information about fire spread in real-time. 

October 2024 Funded Seed Grant Projects:

Faculty and School	Project
Jim Anderson (FAS/SEAS)	Quantifying the feasibility of high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) platforms for wildfire applications during the pre-fire, active fire, and post-fire stages
Melani Cammett (FAS)	The Political Economy of Energy Transitions in the Middle East
Jonathan Grinham (GSD)	Making the Case: Communicating the benefits of climate change action
David Williams (HSPH)	Climate Stress: Mapping Mental Health Vulnerabilities Using New Data-Driven Insights
Peter Tufano, Ishita Sen (HBS)	Workshop: Climate Change and Insurance

February 2025 Funded Seed Grant Projects:

Faculty and School	Project
Joanna Aizenberg, Frank Keutsch (SEAS)	Rapid Radiative Cooling Atmospheric Water Harvesting through Soft Engineered Materials
Eva Blau (GSD)	Workshop: Supporting Kazakhstan’s Green Transition
Emily Breza (FAS)	Impacts of Government-Provided Weather Insurance: Evidence from India’s PMFBY Program
Missy Holbrook (FAS)	Impacts of rising temperatures on plant productivity and crop yield
Carla Martin (FAS)	Workshop: The Futures of Africa’s Cocoa Industry
Rachel Meltzer (GSD)	Wildfires and the Resilience of Commercial Activity
Lotem Bassan-Nygate (HKS)	Breaking Commitments: Public Reactions to Withdrawals from International Climate Agreements
Eugene Richardson (HMS)	Adaptation Frontiers in Vulnerable Socio-economic Systems in Brazil

Bridge Grant Program in Climate and Sustainability 

In response to sudden cuts in federal research funding, the Salata Institute offered bridge funding to help maintain field experiments and graduate-student training pipelines that would otherwise collapse and to support researchers while they seek alternate funding sources. In June 2025, the Institute awarded $25,000 grants to 18 faculty members. 

Among the funded projects was “Beat the Heat,” a randomized trial that installed window air-conditioners in the homes of vulnerable seniors in Boston and measures indoor air quality. The research had lost funding from the National Institutes for Health.  

Another of the funded projects refines rainfall forecasts, allowing agencies, such as the National Weather Service, to produce better predictions for less money. The National Science Foundation (NSF) had previously funded the project. 

Yet another funded project entailed the development of cheaper ways to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. It, too, lost NSF funding. Explore bridge grant awards below.

Salata Institute Bridge Grant Program in Climate and Sustainability, June 2025

Faculty and School	Project
Michael Aziz (SEAS)	Porous Electrode Science for Electrochemical Flow Cells
David Brooks (SEAS)	Sustainable AI Computing with Next-Generation Hardware and Test-Time Compute
Gage Hills (SEAS)	From Academia to Industry: Guiding the Development of CO2-Efficient Computing Systems
Robert Howe (SEAS)	Biodegradable Structures and Machines for Sustainable Development
Peter Huybers (FAS-EPS/SEAS)	Securing Information on Food Insecurity
Zhiming Kuang (FAS-EPS/SEAS)	A New Machine Learning Strategy to Parameterizing Moist Convection
Mariana Linz (FAS-EPS/SEAS)	Analysis of Tracer Distributions, Trends and Extreme Events
Richard Liu (FAS-Chem)	Directly Light-Driven CO2 Separations
Jarad Mason (FAS-Chem)	Understanding Hysteresis in Barocaloric Materials for Sustainable Heating and Cooling
Jackie Matthes (FAS-OEB/Forest)	Bridging the Gap from Wetlands to Uplands: Cross-scale methane dynamics at terrestrial-aquatic interfaces in temperate forests
Julia Mundy (FAS-Physics/SEAS)	Development of Novel Oxide Thin Films for OER Electrocatalysis
Benton Taylor (FAS-OEB)	Forest Responses to Warming, Elevated CO2, and Drought (FORWARD)
Eli Tziperman (FAS-EPS/SEAS)	Extreme El Niño Events in a Changing Climate
Robin Wordsworth (FAS-EPS/SEAS)	Hothouse Hurricanes: Tropical Cyclones in Earth’s Warmest Climates
Gary Adamkiewicz (HSPH)	Beat the Heat: Long-term Heat Resilience in Boston
Josiemer Mattei (HSPH)	Climate Change Indicators, Agricultural Diversification, and Food and Nutrition Security in Puerto Rico
Pablo Perez-Ramos (GSD)	Climate Change Indicators, Agricultural Diversification, and Food and Nutrition Security in Puerto Rico
Mary Rice (HSPH)	Air Purification for Eosinophilic COPD Study (APECS)

Biodiversity and Planetary Stewardship Committee 

The Biodiversity and Planetary Stewardship Committee seeks to advance discovery and measurement of biodiversity, understand the impacts of global change on ecosystems and human well-being, make concrete contributions to planetary stewardship, and promote cross-disciplinary education and engagement. The committee is co-chaired by Professors Jeannine Cavender-Bares (Director of the Harvard University Herbaria) and Gonzalo Giribet (Director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology) of the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. 

Visit the committee website here.

Strengthening Harvard’s Research Capacity in Climate 

The extent to which Harvard can produce the critical new knowledge that can help the world meet the climate challenge depends on its faculty. This past year, four distinguished scholars joined the faculty. 

Jeannine Cavender-Bares, Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Bares studies how plants change along with the climate – which species survive, which do not, and why. Her work in monitoring biodiversity is essential for deciphering where change is happening, the kinds of changes that are unfolding, and whether actions we are taking for planetary stewardship are having the kinds of impacts leaders are aiming for.

Elisa Iturbe, Architecture Thesis Director Co-Director, Assistant Professor of Architecture, Harvard Graduate School of Design. Elisa Iturbe is an architectural designer, writer, and educator. Her work studies the relationship between energy, power, and form, with a focus on how the adoption of fossil fuels changed the spatial organization of the built environment, producing an urban and architectural paradigm unique to the carbon age—carbon form.

Wolfram Schlenker, Ray A. Goldberg Professor of the Global Food System, Harvard Kennedy School. Schlenker studies the effect of weather and climate on agricultural yields and migration, how climate trends and the US biofuel mandate influences agricultural commodity prices, and how pollution impacts both agricultural yields and human morbidity. 

Fiamma Straneo, the Gordon McKay Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, seeks to improve our understanding of how heat, water and sediments are exchanged between the oceans and ice sheets, and how these vary over time. This, she wrote in August by email while aboard a research vessel in west Greenland, “is key to our ability to interpret past and project future sea level and ocean circulation changes in the North Atlantic as well as inform adaptive strategies and resilience-building for local communities.” 

Le Xie, Gordon McKay Professor of Electrical Engineering at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, pursues research at the nexus of data, energy, and infrastructure. His research interests include modeling and control in data-rich large-scale systems, grid integration of clean energy resources, and electricity markets. 

The Salata Institute Fellows Program  

The Salata Institute Fellows Program accepts exceptional academics and practitioners working on climate change and sustainability for the purpose of supporting their scholarship or professional development. Fellows, in turn, enrich Harvard University’s community of scholars and scientists who are working on these issues. In academic year 2024 – 2025, the Institute hosted the following fellows. 

Elaine Buckberg, Senior Fellow at the Salata Institute, former Chief Economist of General Motors, and a former senior U.S. Treasury official, led research and stakeholder engagement to improve public EV charging outcomes, analyze industrial policy and supply chains, and teach an undergraduate seminar on electric vehicles, drawing on her decades of experience advising government and industry. 

Professor Xinming Du, Assistant Professor of Economics at the National University of Singapore, worked under the supervision of Professor Charles Taylor to advance research on methane emissions from fossil fuel supply chains and agricultural practices, using satellite and administrative data to study methane leakage in the energy sector and the mitigation potential of dry rice cultivation in China. 

Harshil Kamdar, Lead Senior Scientist at Insight M and a Harvard Ph.D. graduate, worked under the supervision of Professor Daniel Jacob to develop a multi-scale dataset integrating aerial and satellite observations to detect and mitigate methane super-emitters, while also convening a seminar series to connect researchers, industry, and regulators around methane monitoring and reduction. 

Professor Zhu Liu, of Tsinghua University and co-founder of Carbon Monitor, conducted research at the Salata Institute to advance global methane emission estimates by integrating advanced satellite data and real-time modeling, strengthening Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification systems to inform international climate policy and cooperation. 

Harvard Environmental Fellows Program 

The Harvard Environmental Fellows Program brings some of the most talented postdoctoral scholars in the areas of climate and the environment to Harvard to work with faculty hosts and the broader Salata community.  In 2024-25, eight Environmental Fellows worked with their hosts across the Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard Kennedy School, and the Faculty of Arts & Sciences departments of History, Chemistry, and Earth and Planetary Sciences. 

Karl Aspelund (2025-2027) uses models grounded in economic theory, paired with spatial and administrative data, to design environmental policies that advance equity, efficiency, and sustainability.​

Matthew Goss (2024-2026) researches how the oxidation of organic molecules in the atmosphere affects the formation of fine aerosol particles, which play an important role in climate and air quality.

Seán Kavanagh (2024-2026) uses quantum mechanical simulations to identify bottlenecks in the performance of renewable energy materials.

Jiameng Lai (2025-2027) is an environmental scientist who integrates plant physiology theories, land surface modeling, satellite remote sensing, and data assimilation techniques to monitor, understand and predict the complex dynamics of terrestrial ecosystems in response to environmental change.​

Cameron MacDonald (2025-2027) uses numerical models and theory to better understand the fundamental dynamics of Earth’s atmosphere. ​

Aaron Molnar (2024-2026) mobilizes paleoclimatology and archaeology with documentary sources to understand how the premodern state over time adapted to climate change in the Chinese-Mongolian steppe borderlands.

Nkosi Muse (2025-2027) utilizes a mixed methods approach to examine unique, humid heat hazards that threaten human health and productivity in urban areas, as well as develop policy solutions to equitably adapt in a warming world.​

Nathaniel Tarshish (2024-2026) is a climate scientist with broad interests in understanding historical and committed global warming.

Guglielmo Zappalà (2025-2027) applies statistical and econometric methods grounded in economic theory to traditional and geo-spatial satellite data to better understand the socio-economic impacts of climate change and humanity’s ability to adapt.​
 ​

Radcliffe-Salata Climate Justice Fellows Program 

The Radcliffe-Salata Climate Justice Fellowships are year-long appointments that afford recipients the opportunity to pursue ambitious projects in the unique environment of the Harvard Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Learning. Fellows are drawn from some of the most thoughtful and exciting contemporary scholars considering questions of climate justice.  

Holly Jean Buck (2024-2025) is an associate professor of environment and sustainability at the University at Buffalo. She works across geography, environmental science, and media studies to understand how people engage with emerging climate and energy technologies. Her research is interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral and has an applied, policy focus. She is the author of Ending Fossil Fuels: Why Net Zero Is Not Enough (Verso, 2021), which focuses on phasing out fossil fuels, and After Geoengineering: Climate Tragedy, Repair, and Restoration (Verso, 2019), which examines technologies for climate intervention. 

Harvard Global Health Institute – Salata-Burke Climate and Health Fellows Program 

In partnership with the Harvard Global Health Institute and made possible by a generous gift from Katherine States Burke AB ’79 and T. Robert Burke, the Burke Climate and Health Fellowship offers support for eligible research fellows, postdoctoral scholars, and early career faculty pursuing scholarly research at the intersection of climate change and global health. 

Colleen Lanier-Christensen (2024-2026) is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the History of Science Department at Harvard University. She works at the intersection of history of science and public health, studying the governance of environmental and health risks, including air pollution, chemical products, and medical technologies. As a Salata-Burke fellow, she is researching the historical legal authority of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse gases as pollutants under the Clean Air Act of 1970. 

Annikki Herranen-Tabibi (2023-2025) is a Postdoctoral Fellow medical and environmental anthropologist of the Circumpolar Arctic. She is engaged in long-term ethnographic research in Sápmi, the transborder homeland of the Indigenous Sámi people. Her scholarly work defines a space for research and collaborative action at the intersections of global health with medical and environmental humanities and social sciences. As a Salata-Burke Fellow,, she researched the health effects of climate-induced disruptions to webs of Arctic subsistence livelihoods, as well as diverse responses to those effects, in Sápmi. 

Climate Action Accelerator 

The Climate Action Accelerator is a nonpartisan resource connecting Harvard scholars to the full spectrum of stakeholders wrestling with the most difficult and divisive climate questions, building consensus for climate solutions grounded in Harvard’s research and expertise. The Accelerator identifies critical climate problems and connects Harvard experts to the full spectrum of stakeholders through convenings (both public and private), white papers, blogs, and communications support. 

In academic year 2024-2025, the Accelerator conducted 34 convenings, closed-door meetings, and public events that engaged some 1,500 practitioners. Public-facing activities included events at Climate Week NYC, London Climate Week, and San Francisco Climate Week. The Accelerator also runs Harvard Climate Action Week. We have moved Harvard Climate Action Week (HCAW) from late spring (June 2024) to run during the school year (September 2025) to increase access for our students. As a result, HCAW did not run in AY 24-25, the period covered by this report. 

2024- 2025 Climate Action Accelerator Convenings

Energy and Climate Policy:

Convening	Purpose / description	Outcome(s)	Attendance
The Future of U.S. Climate and Energy Policy    November 19, 2024	Invite-only post-election convening of Congressional leaders and policy experts discuss with bipartisan lawmakers and staffers, and other VIPs. Co-hosted with the Climate Solutions Fund. Top of the Hill, Washington, D.C.  This event explored options for U.S. climate and energy policy in the aftermath of the presidential election. Congressional leaders from both parties and leading climate policy experts and stakeholders joined in discussion on the prospects for climate action in the next Congress and presidential administration.	Built and deepened relationships between Harvard faculty and bipartisan lawmakers and stakeholders working on climate and energy issues.  Educated lawmakers on climate and energy policy issues, positioning Harvard as a trusted source of information.    Better understood what lawmakers need from Harvard.	75
Congressional meetings    February 12 – 26, 2025	Professor Dustin Tingley met with staff from the offices of members of Congress to present opinion polls that indicated strong bipartisan support for federal lands leasing reform for renewables energy. Meetings took place with staff of the following Representatives: Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-AZ, Rep. Mike Levin, D-CA, Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-NY, Sen. Mike Lee, R-UT, and Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-NM.	Educated key lawmakers about ways that public lands leasing could be reformed to advance renewable energy. (Sec. 50303. of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act stipulated that communities share in the revenue from renewables on public lands.)	6
Harvard Transportation Webinar Series:  The New Behavioral Science of Mode Choice    February 26, 2025	The webinar discussed how behavioral science could help practitioners understand and affect the transportation mode choices that people make.	Met a demand among state department of transportation staff for knowledge about sustainable transportation that is no longer provided by the federal government.	100
Harvard Transportation Webinar Series:  Nature-Based Solutions for Transportation Resilience     April 30, 2025	The webinar explored the role of nature-based solutions in transportation, including the integration of such solutions in capital plans, the benefits of ecosystem restoration efforts, indigenous perspectives, and their use in improving coastal resilience.	Connected Harvard research and practitioner expertise with state and regional department of transportation agency staff.	322
Harvard Transportation Webinar Series: Energy Transition Technology in Transportation Rights-of-Way    May 28, 2025	The webinar featured presentations by transportation officials who are siting transmission, clean energy generation, and battery storage facilities on their properties and rights-of-way to reap environmental and financial benefits and improve grid reliability.	Facilitated peer-to-peer knowledge sharing among transportation practitioners.	160
Harvard Transportation Webinar Series: Pricing and Repricing: Leveraging pricing signals to achieve policy outcomes    June 25, 2025	Pricing is one of the most impactful actions in meeting transportation policy outcomes. Repricing policies convert fixed costs, such as insurance premiums, vehicle taxes, and registration fees, to variable costs by charging them on a per mile basis. Repricing parking and congestion pricing also show potential.	State and regional department of transportation staff learned about pricing strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.	91
Global Climate Policy Project	The Global Climate Policy Project, which is a collaboration between the Salata Institute and MIT, organized several meetings with thought leaders in the climate space including Todd Stern, former Special Envoy for Climate Change, Department of State; Esther Duflo, Nobel Laureate for her work in economic development, on ways to reimagine climate finance for development; and Larry Kramer, Chancellor, London School of Economics and former president of the Hewlett Foundation.	Incorporated the input of leading thinkers in the development of the project.
U.S. Energy Policy Seminar	Speakers included: Sherri Goodman, former Pentagon Chief Environmental Officer; Robert Bonnie, Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation, USDA; Dan Lashof, Director of World Resources Institute, United States; Holmes Hummel and Tamara Jones, Clean Energy Works; Kyle Meng, former senior economist, Council of Economic Advisers; Dan Poneman, former Deputy Secretary, Department of Energy.	The seminar brings influential practitioners to campus, who also meet with our students, guest lecture in classes, and meet with faculty members.	50-70/week in-person; 200 online.

Electric Vehicle Policy

Convening	Purpose / description	Outcome(s)	Attendance
Economics and Policy of Electric Transportation Charging Infrastructure      October 24 & 25, 2024	Workshop among researchers and practitioners hosted by the Salata Institute and the MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research.	Questions from practitioners stimulated new research. A second workshop is planned for fall 2025.	40
Accelerating Fleet Electrification in the U.S. – A Roundtable    December 10, 2024	Organized in collaboration with Environmental Defense Fund Roundtable for Systems Solutions, the event on incentives for electrifying freight fleets.	Advanced consensus-building for electrification of heavy-duty fleets among operational leaders of consumer goods companies, retailers, carrier companies, and third-party logistics and data providers.	24
Charging Summit Panel: The Role of Cities in EV Charging Expansion: Partnerships and Policies that Work    March 27, 2025	Panel discussion with representatives of the City of Portland and Portland General Electric.	Offered insights about public-private sector collaboration in creating EV charging programs.	70
SXSW Panel: How to Build Out a City EV Charging Network    March 13, 2025	Workshop with representatives from the cities of Oslo, Los Angeles, and Austin Energy.	Identified lessons about designing and building city charging networks from early adopter cities.	40
Congressional meetings about EV charging    April 7 – 23, 2025	Elaine Buckberg, a Salata Institute Senior Fellow, met with staff at several Congressional offices discuss issues related to energy, environment, and transportation. These included meetings with staff in the offices of Congressman Michael V. Lawler, R-OH, Mike Levin, D-CA, David P. Joyce, R-OH, Frank Pallone Jr., D-NJ, Young Kim, R-CA.	Better educated Congressional staff on the effects of proposed policy changes to EV adoption in the United States.	5
DC Fast Charging Stakeholder Roundtable    May 20, 2025	Convening among stakeholders from industry, government, and consumer groups.	Participants learned from each other about customer experience, technology solutions, and ways to energize DCFC faster.	20

Climate Resilience and Insurance 

Convening	Purpose / description	Outcome(s)	Attendance
Resilient Coasts: Sustainable Frameworks for Climate Adaptation in the Gulf of Guinea Workshop    December 2-3, 2024	Workshop at Harvard that convened a global network of researchers and practitioners to share insights, strengthen partnerships, and shape a more adaptive and equitable response to sea-level rise, coastal erosion, and urban flooding—on settlements and livelihoods in the Gulf of Guinea region.	Build the capacity of African researchers to quantify sea-level rise and assess the vulnerability of communities.	28
A Way Forward: Resilience & Insurance Innovation in Changing Climate	This event, co-organized with Innsure, convened experts who discussed the latest trends and solutions in risk management and insurance in the face of climate change.	Participants learned from industry leaders, networked  with peers, and learned new ways to drive innovation that promotes physical and financial resilience.	30
India 2047: Building a Climate Resilient Future conference     March 19 – 22, 2025	This invitation-only, closed-door event brought together some of the world’s leading climate scientists together with experts in public health, medicine, labor, business, agriculture, and urban planning to set a research and action agenda for addressing extreme climatic events, especially extreme heat across the Global South.	Discussions among scientists, government officials, and decisionmakers in business and civil society helped to develop a common understanding of what is known and what is yet unknown about the impacts of extreme climatic events, about promising adaptation strategies, and about pathways for financing the implementation of adaptation measures.	900
International Workshop on the Futures of the African Cocoa Industry    April 10-11, 2025	The workshop convened leading scholars and practitioners focused on the impact of climate change on the health, livelihoods, and agricultural practices of cocoa producers and their communities. Participants discussed the governance and policies needed to support cocoa producers.	Provided expertise on an issue that is affecting the livelihoods some six million cocoa producers globally.	18
Resilient Economies, Summer 2025 Convening	Co-sponsored a Resources for the Future convening in New Mexico about the energy transition at which Professor Dustin Tingley moderated a panel discussion, “Public finance: policy options in theory and practice.”	Contributed to a salient discussion among academics and practitioners and increased the visibility of the Salata Institute.	86

Methane Emissions Reductions 

Convening	Purpose / description	Outcome(s)	Attendance
Climate Week NYC	An informal discussion took place among Harvard faculty and experts on methane emissions from several non-governmental organizations and private firms.	The discussion helped inform practitioners about research on methane emissions as well as gain insights from the practitioners.	17
Workshop: Quantifying Methane Emissions with the Integrated Methane Inversion   November 4, 2024	The workshop, offered by the Harvard Atmospheric Chemistry Modeling Group and the Salata Institute trained current and prospective users of this methane emissions detection tool.	Trained non-expert stakeholders to infer methane emissions from satellite data, which is critical to identifying leaks and stopping them.	90
Reducing Methane Emissions, Trade COP29	COP29 side event in Baku presented research on methane emission reductions in various sectors and reviewed best practices in jurisdictions in the Global South and North.	Engaged an international audience of experts and practitioners on Harvard’s research around methane emissions.	75

Climate Finance and Voluntary Corporate Targets 

Convening	Purpose / description	Outcome(s)	Attendance
Workshop: Effectiveness of corporate net-zero targets and other voluntary targets in reducing carbon emissions    October 2024	An international group of researchers and practitioners sought to understand the extent to which voluntary emissions reduction targets yield emissions reductions.	The discussion helped to frame the research that Harvard researchers are conducting on corporate net-zero targets.	27
London Climate Week    June 24, 2025	This public event featured a panel discussion, Financing climate action: Headwinds and tailwinds. It was moderated by Professor Peter Tufano of Harvard Business School, and it included David Blood, Nili Gilbert, and the Rt. Hon. Chris Skidmore.	Tapped into the expertise of three climate finance practitioners, who are associated with the Salata Institute and reached a specialized audience that was eager to learn about this topic.	60

Environmental Justice 

Convening	Purpose / description	Outcome(s)	Attendance
Environmental Justice and the EPA    Sept 19, 2024	This panel conversation explored the role of law and policy in advancing environmental justice, recent developments at EPA, and the road ahead.    Speakers:  David Cash, Regional Administer EPA Region 1 (New England)  Crystal Johnson, Assistant Secretary of Environmental Justice, MA Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs  Hannah Perls, Senior Staff Attorney, Environmental and Energy Law Program, Harvard Law School (moderator)  Dwaign Tyndal, Executive Director, Alternatives for Community & Environment (ACE)  Dan Utech, EPA Chief of Staff	Robust Harvard attendance, panelists represented a range of EJ actors – from state government, to the EPA, to local government, to an HLS staff attorney.	81

Solar Geoengineering 

Convening	Purpose / description	Outcome(s)	Attendance
2024 SRM Social Science Workshop: Cooperative Vs. Noncooperative Climate Interventions	Jointly hosted by RFF and the Harvard Solar Geoengineering Research Program, this workshop showcased some of the latest social science research related to solar radiation modification (SRM). This year, a common theme running throughout the workshop was the likely differences between collaborative management of potential SRM (maximizing its potential benefits while minimizing its risks) within a future climate change policy portfolio, versus more non-cooperative, piecemeal, “messy” SRM developments.	Engaged an array of leading thinkers and important stakeholders, especially from the Global South.	47 in-person; additional  attendees online
Harvard at Climate Week NYC     September 24, 2024	This event consisted of three back-to-back panels, Time to Think About Solar Geoengineering? with Elizabeth Kolbert, Holly Jean Buck, and Dan Schrag, Rising Methane: Opportunities for US Action with Daniel Jacob and Carrie Jenks, and Is It Already Too Hot to Work? with Reema Nanavaty, Caroline Buckee, Sharon Block, José García, Cathy Feingold, and Sachit Balsari.	Robust attendance, with attendees spanning Harvard alums, current students, and practitioners.	292

Public Outreach

The Salata Institute aims to communicate broadly to climate professionals, the Harvard community, and the climate-curious public. By tailoring content and engagement strategies to these groups, the Institute aims to build trust, amplify Harvard expertise, and grow the followings needed to position itself as the University’s central hub – and a global leader – for climate insight.  

The new Harvard Climate Blog, our white paper series, an audience-specific broadcast email program, documentary videos and lecture recordings, an active media relations practice, and social media content, augment traditional academic publication streams to reach these diverse audiences.  

These efforts continue to yield encouraging results: In Fiscal Year 2025, the Salata Institute attracted over 158,000 website visitors, drove over 300,000 impressions across social media channels, and grew its email subscriber base to over 18,000. The Institute’s YouTube channel now features over 100 free climate and sustainability talks and generated over 11,900 viewer-hours. Harvard faculty were cited in the media over 200 times.  

Explore several of our core research dissemination campaigns below: 

The Harvard Climate Blog

Launched in December 2024, the Harvard Climate Blog is a jargon-free platform that translates faculty research into clear, timely articles that position Harvard as a trusted, accessible source of climate insight and the Salata Institute as the single point of entry for climate work at the University. View recent blog topics below and read all blogs here.

Salata Institute White Papers 

In addition to the discussion papers and peer-reviewed articles published by the Salata Institute’s faculty affiliates, the Institute began publishing a white paper series during this academic year. These papers are reviewed by members of the Salata Institute Editorial Committee. For example: 

“Federal Land Leasing, Energy, and Local Public Finances” (August 2024) explores a crucial missed opportunity to support local economies through renewable energy revenue. It found that unlike fossil-fuel extraction on federal lands – which annually channels billions in rents, royalties, and bid bonuses to states and counties – onshore wind and solar projects direct nearly all revenue to the federal treasury, representing a missed opportunity that policymakers should correct by extending equitable revenue-sharing mechanisms to renewable energy. 

“Fishers on the Gulf of Guinea: Climate, and the Income Diversification Imperative” (May 2025) argues that collapsing fish stocks driven by ocean warming, illegal industrial trawling, and artisanal overfishing require West African nations to pivot from fuel subsidies toward stronger regulatory enforcement, vocational training, and school-based programs that help coastal fisherfolk diversify their incomes and secure long-term resilience. 

Looking ahead, faculty teams are currently working on at least three more white papers for publication in the second-half of 2025: a paper on extreme heat in India presenting findings from the New Delhi conference; a methodological playbook for researchers using the Net Zero clusters’ new datasets; and a detailed blueprint by the GCPP for a ‘Climate Coalition’ that can speed decarbonization while protecting development, to be released ahead of COP30 in November. 

Harvard Voices on Climate Change

This virtual event series, hosted by the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability and the Harvard Alumni Association, features Harvard faculty and fellows who discuss various dimensions of the climate challenge. The series is hosted by Jim Stock, Vice Provost for Climate and Sustainability and Harold Hitchings Burbank Professor of Political Economy at Harvard University.

Explore sessions below:

What You Wanted to Know About Climate Change But Were Afraid to Ask (Video) 

Speakers: Peter Huybers, Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Sciences & Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering, Harvard Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences; Mary Rice, Mark and Catherine Winkler Associate Professor of Environmental Respiratory Health & Director, Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment (Harvard Chan C-CHANGE), Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; Anita Berrizbeitia, Professor of Landscape Architecture, Harvard Graduate School of Design; Joe Aldy, Teresa and John Heinz Professor of the Practice of Environmental Policy, Harvard Kennedy School 

Sea Level Rise (Video) 

Speakers: Fiamma Straneo, Gordon McKay Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering, Harvard Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences; Jerry Mitrovica, Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of Science, Harvard University 

Building the U.S. Power Grid for AI and Clean Energy (Video) 

Speakers: Ari Peskoe, Director of the Electricity Law Initiative at the Harvard Law School Environmental and Energy Law Program; Elizabeth Thom, PhD Candidate in Government & Social Policy at Harvard University  

An Ecosystem for Sustainable Computing (Video) 

Speakers: David Brooks, Haley Family Professor of Computer Science, Harvard Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences; and Gage Hills, Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering, Harvard Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences 

Public Opinion and Climate Policy (Video) 

Speaker: Stefanie Stantcheva, Nathaniel Ropes Professor of Political Economy, Harvard University 

EPA Rollbacks & the Future of Environmental Protection (Video) 

Speakers: Carrie Jenks, Executive Director of Harvard Law School’s Environmental & Energy Law Program; Richard Lazarus, Howard and Katherine Aibel Professor of Law, Harvard Law School 

Can Insurance Keep Up with Climate Change? (Video) 

Speakers: Peter Tufano, Baker Foundation Professor, Harvard Business School; Ishita Sen, Assistant Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School 

Climate and Sustainability Student Programs 

The Salata Institute offers co-curricular and career advancement programs, and it holds community-building events that enrich students’ climate and sustainability education and better prepare them for leadership positions in the field. In academic year 2024-2025, more than 3,000 students across Harvard University benefitted from these programs, conducting fieldwork, pursuing on campus projects, attending events, and working in internship positions. 

Co-Curricular Programs 

Climate Collaboration Grant Program  

350 students supported

Funds student-led projects that involve collaboration across Harvard University’s schools. Projects included Green AI Summit, Food 4Thought Festival, Early Graduate Eco-Engagement discussion sessions, and the Garden Stewardship Initiative 

Travel Grant Program  

59 students supported

Supports students who travel for climate-related academic or professional purposes, including conferences and other forms of experiential learning.  

Student Activities Grant Program  

1,509 students supported

Funds student organizations that pursue climate and sustainability projects and events.  

The COP Student Observer Funding Program  

11 students supported

Supports student participation at the annual Conference of the Parties (COP). The program includes supplemental educational programming before and after the conference to deepen students’ understanding of the COP.  

The Salata Institute Scholar Seminar Series  

16 student presentations and discussions 

Cultivates a student-led intellectual community by providing opportunities for students to present their work, broaden their exposure to different climate-related fields. 

The Salata Institute Ambassadors Program  

21 students engaged 

Positions students as Institute representatives within Harvard University’s schools and offers a conduit for student feedback to the Institute. 

The Harvard College Climate Cohort 

30 incoming first-year students engaged 

Now in its second year, the cohort is a student-led, peer-to-peer summer program, which engages pre-matriculated Harvard College students in climate discussions and familiarizes them with related resources available on campus. The 10-week program includes weekly discussions around 10 different climate disciplines, guest lectures, and community building activities. 

The Summer Research Funding Program  

33 students supported

Supports undergraduate and graduate students who conduct climate related research. The program pays stipends to all students and provides on-campus housing to some of the undergraduates, who are working as research assistants in faculty labs. 

The Harvard Climate Internship Program  

32 internships across four continents 

Funds up to $7,000 per summer internship for Harvard University graduate students, who are working in climate and sustainability. The program also offers guest lectures, mentoring, and networking to participants. 

The Climate Policy Internship Program  

7 student internships 

Places Harvard undergraduate and graduate students in part-time internships at the Massachusetts State House, where they learn about the legislative process and support the work of legislators. 

Fellows at the Forefront 

7 student internships 

The Salata Institute supports this program of the Center for Public Service and Engaged Leadership, Harvard College. The program places College students in paid summer internships at governmental and non-governmental organizations. 

The Climate and Sustainability Career Expo  

1,039 students and alumni registrants 

Brings dozens of employers to campus to recruit Harvard University and MIT students.   

Careers in Climate Action Speaker Series  

193 student attendees 

This series hosts leading practitioners — many of whom are alumni — who discuss their career paths, industry trends, and employment opportunities for students. The topics discussed included climate and health, innovative technologies, consulting, climate finance, venture capital, K-12 education, and corporate social responsibility. 

 All-Ivy Environmental and Sustainable Development Career Fair 

110 students, 104 alumni supported 

The Salata Institute helped 110 students travel to this career fair, held annually at Columbia University. After the Fair, the Institute held a networking event for students and alumni at the Harvard Club of New York. 

Harvard Climate and Sustainability Networking Reception – Washington DC 

135 students and alumni attendees  

The Salata Institute and the 2025 Harvard Kennedy School Climate Trek team co-sponsored a student and alumni networking reception in Washington DC.  

Community-Building Events 

Fall 2024 Student Open House 

Impact: 137 students 

At this first event of the academic year, students from across the University learn about the Salata Institute’s programs and resources. Students also network with one another and meet our staff. 
 
Spring 2025 Student Open House 

Impact: 81 students 

The event focuses on summer programs to help students prepare for internship and research opportunities. 

VISITAS Open House Event 

Impact: 25 admitted students 

The Salata Institute welcomed some of Harvard’s newly admitted College students, who were interested in climate and sustainability, as part of this daylong series of events. 

Courses and Reading Groups

The Salata Institute supports and provides educational programming to Harvard faculty, as well as global doctoral students in the emerging field of climate finance. 

January-Term Faculty Course on Climate Change 

In January 2025, the Salata Institute launched the inaugural J-Term Faculty Course on Climate Change, a four-day course for Harvard University faculty, taught by faculty. The Salata Faculty Research Committee designed this new course to broaden the knowledge of faculty members in climate and to facilitate connections among colleagues across the University. 

The course offered an overview of climate change topics including climate science fundamentals, energy systems, human understanding of the environment, ecosystem and health impacts, finance and macro-economics, and the international politics of climate change. The course also featured a simulation exercise for the faculty participants in which they were assigned the roles of stakeholders during a heat emergency in the city of Phoenix. Instructors for the course included Peter Huybers, Department Chair, Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering; Missy Holbrook, Charles Bullard Professor of Forestry; Jim Stock, Vice Provost for Climate and Sustainability and Director of the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability; Le Xie, Gordon McKay Professor of Electrical Engineering; Satchit Balsari, Associate Professor in the Department of Global Health and Population, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine; Caroline Buckee, Professor of Epidemiology; Robin Kelsey, Shirley Carter Burden Professor of Photography; George Serafeim, Charles M. Williams Professor of Business Administration; and Rob Stavins, A.J. Meyer Professor of Energy and Economic Development. More than 30 faculty participated in the course, which the Salata Institute plans to offer again the near future. 

Reading Group: Financial Economics of Climate and Sustainability 

The Salata Institute hosted and staffed a collaborative global doctoral course which prepares faculty, post-docs, researchers, and doctoral students in the emerging field of climate finance. The course had participants from 142 universities and seven government agencies across five continents. Participants held weekly virtual meetings in the Spring 2025 semester. A group of ten faculty from Harvard, Imperial College London, University of Oxford, Columbia, Yale, Stanford, University of Texas, and NYU made presentations and led discussions.  

Visit the reading group website here. 

Alumni Engagement 

The Salata Institute’s alumni engagement strategy recognizes that Harvard’s more than 400,000 alumni are advancing climate solutions and sustaining a vibrant community of practice. The Institute works with alumni and alumni groups to advance our shared mission.  We support alumni to become more effective and resilient climate leaders, to build stronger alumni climate-aligned networks, and to strengthen Harvard’s climate initiatives. 

We partner with a newly created Alumni Working Group—and existing alumni groups—to design and deliver alumni activities. The Group comprises alumni leaders across professional sectors and regions, as well as representatives of groups such as Harvard Alumni for Climate and Environment (HACE) and ClassAct groups. We seek to help alumni to become more educated, engaged, effective, and resilient climate leaders.  In our first year working together, we have: 

• Built community and connections by organizing in collaboration with global alumni groups climate-focused networking events at Harvard and in major cities worldwide, including Climate Week activities in San Francisco, New York, Washington, D.C., and London, as well as designing alumni-centered programming at Harvard Climate Action Week. 

• Developed practical resources such as an alumni hub on the Salata Institute website, career development and learning opportunities. We’ve designed and rolled out a survey to collect data about alumni’s interests and needs. 

• Created pathways for impact and support, such as finding ways to connect with alumni decision-makers and exploring opportunities to catalyze cross-university climate activities. 

Alumni Events in Academic Year 2024 – 2025 

Alumni in Climate Networking Series: Addressing Extreme Weather, Climate Risk, and Resilience + Networking Reception at San Francisco Climate Week 

119 registrants 

This event, which took place during San Francisco Climate Week, brought together Harvard alumni experts and faculty for an interdisciplinary discussion about the ways in which communities, businesses, and policymakers can better prepare for, respond to, and recover from climate-driven disasters. 
Sponors: The Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability, Harvard Business School’s Business and Environment Initiative, and Harvard Law School’s Environmental & Energy Law Program. 

Alumni in Climate Networking Series: London Climate Week  

134 registrants 

This event gathered together Harvard alumni and faculty from across disciplines and industries during London Climate Action Week. Professor James H. Stock, director of the Salata Institute, made spoke about the Salata Institute’s mission and its efforts to engage and support alumni in advancing impactful climate and sustainability solutions worldwide. 
 

Sponsors: The Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability, Harvard Business School’s Business and Environment Initiative, Harvard Law School’s Environmental & Energy Law Program, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s C-Change, Harvard Alumni for Climate and the Environment (HACE), the HBS Alumni Association of the UK, the Harvard Club of the UK, and the Harvard Law School Association of the UK. 

Harvard Alumni Day: Work on Climate and Sustainability at Harvard: Meeting the Moment 

600 registrants 

This event showcased Harvard’s climate research on methane emissions reduction, grid modernization, and public health protection. A faculty panel moderated by Professor James H. Stock comprised experts from across disciplines who discussed the challenge of reducing methane in the atmosphere. There were also remarks about the opportunities for alumni to engage in advancing climate solutions through the Harvard community. 
 

Sponsors: The Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability, Harvard Alumni for Climate and the Environment (HACE), and ClassACT HR85. 

HACE Earth Month Programming Virtual Event: Professor Cass R. Sunstein 

300 registrants 

Professor Cass R. Sunstein discussed his book, Climate Justice: What Rich Nations Owe the World—and the Future. The themes of the discussion included the social cost of carbon, equity in climate action, and practical steps Harvard alumni can take to drive change locally and nationally. 

Sponsors: Harvard Alumni for Climate and the Environment (HACE) and the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability. 

HACE at DC Climate Action Week 

190 registrants 

This gathering of Harvard alumni across schools and graduation years allowed for community-building and networking during DC Climate Week. 

Sponsors: Harvard Alumni for Climate and the Environment (HACE), the Harvard Club of DC, the HBS Club of DC, HKS DC Alumni Council, and the Salata Institute. 

Alumni CAN (Climate Action Now): A Lightning Presentations & Networking Event at Harvard Alumni Day 2025 

110 Registrants 

Ten alumni discussed their climate-related work. Attendees also heard insights from Harvard’s climate leaders, including Professor James H. Stock, director of the Salata Institute and Heather Henriksen, Harvard’s Chief Sustainability Officer. 

Sponsors: HR Class ’75, ’85, ClassACT HR73, HR90, the Salata Institute, and Harvard Alumni for Climate and the Environment (HACE). 

Global Networking Event: New Delhi 
Remarks made by Professor Jim Stock, Director, Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability. Sponsor: Harvard Club of India. 

Appendix 1: Select Publications

Reducing Global Methane Emissions

Research Briefs 

Robert Paarlberg. “Controlling Methane from Beef and Dairy: Facing Realities in the Global South.” Research Brief 9. June 2025.  

“Satellite Monitoring of Annual U.S. Landfill Methane Emissions.” Summary of a research paper by Nicholas Balasus, et al. (Daniel Jacob Group; see below for full reference to underlying paper). Research Brief 8. April 2025  

Abby Husselbee. “Policy for Reducing Methane Emissions from Livestock in the United States.” Research Brief 7. December 2024.  

Zerin Osho. “India’s Methane Problem.” Research Brief 6. November 2024  

“Methane and Markets.” Summary of ongoing research conducted by Coly Elhai and Toren Fronsdal. Research Brief 5. November 2024.  

Discussion papers 

Robert Paarlberg. “Controlling Methane from Beef and Dairy: Facing Realities in the Global South.” Discussion Paper HMI-2. May 22, 2025.  

Joseph Aldy, Forest Reinhardt, and Robert Stavins. “Methane Abatement Costs in the Oil and Gas Industry: Survey and Synthesis.” Discussion Paper HMI-1. March 4, 2025  

Peer-reviewed publications 

Nicholas Balasus, Jacob, D. J.; Maxemin, G.; Jenks, C.; Nesser, H.; Maasakkers, J. D.; Cusworth, D. H.; Scarpelli, T. R.; Varon, D. J.; Wang, X. “Satellite Monitoring of Annual US Landfill Methane Emissions and Trends.” Environmental Research Letters. January 16, 2025, 20 (2), 024007.. 

Zichong Chen, et al. “Satellite-Based Monitoring of Methane Emissions from China’s Rice Hub.” Environmental Science & Technology. December 11, 2024.. 

Zichong Chen, Lin, H.; Balasus, N.; Hardy, A.; East, J. D.; Zhang, Y.; Runkle, B. R. K.; Hancock, S. E.; Taylor, C. A.; Du, X.; Sander, B. O.; Jacob, D. J. “Global Rice Paddy Inventory (GRPI): A High-Resolution Inventory of Methane Emissions from Rice Agriculture Based on Landsat Satellite Inundation Data.” Earth’s Future. April 26, 2025, 13 (4), e2024EF005479.. 

Lucas A. Estrada, Varon, D. J., Sulprizio, M., Nesser, H., Chen, Z., Balasus, N., Hancock, S. E., He, M., East, J. D., Mooring, T. A., Oort Alonso, A., Maasakkers, J. D., Aben, I., Baray, S., Bowman, K. W., Worden, J. R., Cardoso-Saldaña, F. J., Reidy, E., and Jacob, D. J. “Integrated Methane Inversion (IMI) 2.0: an improved research and stakeholder tool for monitoring total methane emissions with high resolution worldwide using TROPOMI satellite observations.” Geoscientific Model Development, 18, 3311–3330. June 4, 2025. , 2025. 

Harshil Kamdar, et al. “Creating Accurate Methane Emission Inventories through Data-Driven Airborne Survey Strategies.” Energy Proceedings. Vol. 56. 2025.  

Haritosh Patel, V. Garrido Portilla, A. V. Shneidman, J. Movilli, J. Alvarenga, C. Dupré, M. Aizenberg, V. N. Murthy, A. Tropsha, J. Aizenberg. “Design Principles from Natural Olfaction for Electronic Noses.” Advanced Science. March 2025, 12, 412669.  

Daniel J. Varon, D.J. Jacob, L.A. Estrada, N. Balasus, J.D. East, D.C. Pendergrass, Z. Chen, M. Sulprizio, H. Kamdar, et al. “Seasonality and declining intensity of methane emissions from the Permian and nearby US oil and gas basins,” submitted to Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 2025. Preprint: https://eartharxiv.org/repository/view/9533/  

Xiaolin Wang, D. J. Jacob, H. Nesser, N. Balasus, L. Estrada, M. P. Sulprizio, D. H. Cusworth, T. R. Scarpelli, Z. Chen, J. D. East, and D. J. Varon: “Quantifying urban and landfill methane emissions in the United States using TROPOMI satellite data.” submitted to Science Advances. 2025. Preprint: https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2505.10835  

Other publications and resources 

Daniel Jacob Group. Integrated Methane Inversion (IMI) website. Launched October 2024.  

Robert Paarlberg. “Methane Reduction in Livestock: Confronting the North-South Gap,” Commentary, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, D.C., March 6, 2025.  

“Historicizing a Planetary Future: A Discussion with Emma Rothschild on the Convergence of Climate Science and Historical Thinking in the ‘1800 Histories’ Project.” Emma Rothschild interviewed by Glenda Sluga and Heidi J.S. Tworek of the Toynbee Prize Foundation. August 7, 2024.. 

Professor Rothschild’s collaboration with Professor Steven Wofsy to apply satellite data to the 1800 Histories Project is supported by the methane cluster. For more on the 1800 Histories Project, see: https://histecon.fas.harvard.edu/climate-loss/methane/index.html  

Robert Stavins. “Update from the Harvard Methane Initiative.” Post in blog, An Economic View of the Environment. August 28, 2024.  

Climate Adaptation in the Gulf of Guinea

Daniel Agbiboa, “Deep Waters: Flooding and the Climate of Suffering in Nigeria,” PS: Political Science and Politics, 57, 4 (2024). 

John M. Kusimi and Emmanuel Akyeampong, “Citizens’ perspectives on coastal erosion and inundation along the Gulf of Guinea,” in S. C. Pal, U. Chatterjee, A. Saha, and D. Ruidas, eds., Advances in Global Change Research (Springer, 2025). 

Rebecca Berkoh-Oforiwaa, Sonke Dangendorf, Jerry X. Mitrovica, John Manyimadin Kusimi, Mohamed A.K.A. Adrabo, Mahmoud A. Hassan, “Assessing Coastal Sea-Level Trends and variability in the Gulf of Guinea using Multi-Source Data: 1900-2021.” (Pending) 

Mohamed Abdel Karim Aly Abdrabo, Mahmoud Ade Hassaan, Jerry X. Mitrovica, “Identifying African Hotspots of Sea Level Impacts across the 21st Century.” (Pending) 

Emmanuel Akyeampong, John M. Kusimi, Robert Paarlberg, “Fishers on the Gulf of Guinea: Climate, and the Income Diversification Imperative.” Salata Institute White Paper, May 2025. 

Corporate Net Zero Targets

Aldy, Joseph E., Patrick Bolton, Zachery M. Halem, and Marcin T. Kacperczyk, 2025. “Show & Tell: An Analysis of Corporate Climate Messaging and its Financial Impacts.” Financial Analysts Journal 81(1): 82-101.  

Aldy, Joseph E. and Zachery M. Halem, 2024. “The Evolving Role of Greenhouse Gas Emission Offsets in Combating Climate Change.” Review of Environmental Economics and Policy 18(2): 212-233.  

Legal analyses: 

Evolving Regulatory Landscape for Net Zero and other Corporate Climate Commitments 

Comparing Disclosure Requirements for Companies Participating in Voluntary Carbon Markets in the United States 
 
Driving Transparency and Aligning Climate-Related Risk Disclosure Requirements 

The Securities and Exchange Commission Finalizes a Narrower Climate-Related Risk Disclosure Rule 

Litigation Updates on California’s New Climate Disclosure Laws 

The Implementation and Legal Risks of California’s New Climate Disclosure Laws.  

Managerial analyses: 

Ramesh Walsh, Varsha, and Michael Toffel. What Every Leader Needs to Know About Carbon Credits. Harvard Business Review, December 15, 2023). 
 
Toffel, Michael. How ENGOs Can Support Corporate Climate Change Efforts. Harvard Business Review (October 20, 2023). 

Harvard Business School cases and notes: 

Serafeim, George, Michael W. Toffel, Lena Duchene, and Daniela Beyersdorfer. “Vytal: Packaging-as-a-Service.” Harvard Business School Case 124-007, July 2023 and Teaching Note 125-003, January 2025  

Toffel, Michael., Kenneth Pucker, and Michael Norris. “New Belgium Brewing and Climate Change.” Harvard Business School Case 624-069, April 2024 and Teaching Note 625-089.  

Toffel, Michael, and Adam Chen. “Calyx Global: Rating Carbon Credits.” Harvard Business School Case 625-102, March 2025 and Teaching Note 625-103, May 2025. 

Shih, Willy, Michael Toffel, and Kelsey Carter. “Corporate Climate Targets.” Harvard Business School Background Note 624-041, November 2023. See also Rachel Layne. “The Climate Targets Leaders Need to Know as Regulations Loom.” Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, Sept. 2024. 

Toffel, Michael, Kelsey Carter, Amy Chambers, Avery Park, and Susan Pinckney. “Mitigating Climate Change with Machine Learning.” Harvard Business School Background Note 625-014, August 2024.  

Driving Towards Seamless EV Charging

Lessons from Leading EV-Charging Cities: A comparative study that extracts replicable practices on siting, utility coordination and community engagement from the U.S. cities with the most advanced EV charging networks, plus the world’s most advanced charging city: Oslo, Norway. 

Asensio, O., Buckberg, E., Cole, C., Heeney, L., Knittel, C. R., & Stock, J. H. (2025). Charging Uncertainty: Real-Time Charging Data and Electric Vehicle Adoption. SSRN Electronic Journal.  

Plug & Charge – the brief makes recommendations for accelerating the deployment of Plug & Charge technology at EV charging stations based on input from a diverse group of DC fast-charging stakeholders. 

Responding to shifting federal policy signals, researchers published a March brief that quantified how proposed rollbacks of federal EV mandates under the Trump administration could slow sales, increase emissions and raise government spending, spotlighting which individual policy levers matter most. Those estimates were refreshed in June to incorporate the House’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” and other legislative developments.  

The Global Climate Policy Project

Building a Climate Coalition: Aligning Carbon Pricing, Trade, and Development (preliminary report)

Appendix 2: The Salata Institute Advisory Board

The Salata Institute Advisory Board, comprising leaders in climate finance, policy, and industry, provides strategic guidance and insight in support of the Institute. Through biannual meetings and consultations throughout the year, Board members advise the Director, serve as thought partners in areas that align with their expertise, and support the Institute’s efforts to convey the critical new knowledge that Harvard University is producing on climate change and in advancing its mission through philanthropic support.  

In academic year 2024 – 2025, the Board welcomed Perry Bellegarde, a First Nations leader, Janet Yellen, the former United States Secretary of the Treasury, and André Hoffmann, a leading conservationist and businessman.   

Having played a critical role in shaping Advisory Board in the Institute’s first years, Mark Carney (AB’87) stepped away in the spring of 2025 after winning the leadership of the Liberty Party of Canada and becoming Prime Minister. 

In August 2024, the Salata Institute and Harvard community mourned the loss of Advisory Board member Susan Wojcicki, whose leadership, passion, and visionary approach have left an indelible mark on the world, and whose legacy continues on at the Institute through the Seed Grant program that she made possible.

Board Members:

Jean Eric Salata, Honorary Chair 

Jean Eric Salata is Chairman of EQT Asia and the Head of Private Capital Asia. EQT and Mr. Salata are active in philanthropy and have long supported many organizations globally, including in Hong Kong, the Asia Pacific region, the UK, and the USA. Their efforts focus on sustainability, education, disadvantaged youth, and the arts. Mr. Salata also serves as a board member of the Nature Conservancy’s Asia Pacific Council. In 2022, Mr. and Mrs. Salata established The Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability at Harvard University, which brings together Harvard’s university-wide resources to address the climate crisis through scientific and intellectual leadership. Mr. Salata has lived and worked in Hong Kong since 1989, and graduated magna cum laude from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Finance and Economics. 

Melanie Pong Salata 

Melanie Pong Salata is a Trustee of the Salata Family Foundation. Melanie and her husband Jean support numerous charitable and educational organizations around the world with a focus on the arts, education, disadvantaged youth, and the environment. She received her MA in Art History from Williams in 1993 and advocates for arts education, especially for underprivileged children. The Salatas sit on the Serpentine Gallery Council in the United Kingdom and support Bloom Academy in Hong Kong. In 2022, the Salatas established The Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability at Harvard University, which brings together all of Harvard’s university-wide resources to address the climate crisis. The Institute aims to achieve this through scientific and intellectual leadership, by engaging with key stakeholders and decision-makers in government, and by educating and inspiring the leaders of tomorrow. Forbes Asia included the Salatas in its 2022 Heroes of Philanthropy list. Melanie received a BA in French from the University of Pennsylvania in 1988. 

Perry Bellegarde 

Chief Perry Bellegarde (Little Black Bear First Nation, Treaty 4 Territory) has championed First Nations rights and well-being for 35 years. He served two terms as the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, the largest national advocacy organization for 634 First Nations in Canada, from 2014–2021. Chief Bellegarde now serves as the Board Chair of the First Nations Bank of Canada; Special Advisor to the international law firm, Fasken, and Special Advisor to King Charles III’s Sustainable Markets Initiative.  He is a graduate of the Director’s College at McMaster University and the Climate Designation Program of Competent Boards.  As National Chief, he helped pass key pieces of federal legislation: protecting Indigenous languages and implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.  His honors include the Saskatchewan Order of Merit, honorary doctorates from Queen’s and Lakehead universities, and the Empire Club’s Nation Builder of the Year. 

David Blood 

David Blood is a Founding Partner and the Senior Partner of Generation Investment Management. Previously, David spent 18 years at Goldman Sachs including serving as CEO of Goldman Sachs Asset Management. David received a BA from Hamilton College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. David is chair of Just Climate, Social Finance UK and World Resources Institute, and on the board of On the Edge Conservation.

Jennifer Caldwell, Co-Chair 

Jennifer Caldwell manages a family foundation focusing on education and the climate crisis.  With experience serving on national and local nonprofit boards, she has steered strategic initiatives in marketing, brand messaging, and fundraising.  After a corporate career in media, publishing, and broadcasting, she headed marketing at The Nature Conservancy in CA, founded a national platform to engage women in taking climate action, and initiated the Bay Area Green Schools Alliance.  Jennifer currently serves on the boards of Project Drawdown and The Nature Conservancy in CA, as well as advisory boards for Ten Strands and Emerge America. She is an emeritus trustee of the Exploratorium, Environmental Working Group, Katherine Delmar Burke School, and the San Francisco Ballet. 

John Fisher, Co-Chair

John Fisher co-founded DFJ and has been a professional venture capital investor since 1985, serving on many corporate boards. John graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College and received a MBA from Harvard Business School. He serves on the board of non-profit Common Sense Media and is a trustee emeritus of the California Academy of Sciences.  

Andrew Forrest

Dr Andrew Forrest AO is a global business and philanthropic leader dedicated to ending the use of fossil fuels, creating green energy solutions and tackling global challenges like climate change, conflict response, modern slavery and oceanic destruction through overfishing and plastic pollution. 

In 2003, Dr Forrest founded the iron ore miner Fortescue in Western Australia. 22 years later, Fortescue is one of the world’s largest iron ore producers and a global green technology, energy and mining group which has generated the highest Total Shareholder Returns of any company listed on the ASX. Fortescue is on track to be ‘Real Zero’ by 2030 – which will see the Company eliminate the use of fossil fuels from its Australian operations. 

As founder of Australia’s largest philanthropy Minderoo Foundation, Dr. Forrest has pledged to give away his wealth over his lifetime. With an endowment exceeding AU$9 billion, Minderoo tackles global challenges, such as climate change, ending plastic pollution, urgent humanitarian responses and returning our natural ecosystems to a healthy state.  

Dr Forrest holds a PhD in Marine Ecology and was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for his distinguished service to philanthropy, mining, employment, and sustainable foreign investment. 

Nili Gilbert

Nili Gilbert, CFA, CAIA, is the Vice Chairwoman of Carbon Direct, a leader in scaling carbon management into a global industry through investment, science, and client advisory. She is also an Independent Board Director of Brookfield Asset Management, Chair of the David Rockefeller Fund Investment Committee, Chair of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero’s (GFANZ) Advisory Panel of technical experts, and one of its Principals. Additionally, Nili is a Senior Advisor at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and a member of the Clinton Global Initiative Advisory Council. Among other positions, Nili previously Co-Founded Matarin Capital, growing the firm into one of the largest women-owned asset managers in the U.S. Nili received her BA, magna cum laude, from Harvard University, her MBA from Columbia Business School, where she was a Toigo Fellow, and she has completed programs in leadership and sustainability at Oxford and Stanford Universities. 

André Hoffmann

André is Vice Chairman of Roche Holding AG, a highly innovative pharmaceutical company established by his great-grandfather in 1896. He also serves on the board of the fully-owned subsidiary, Genentech Inc.  

André joined the Board of SystemIQ to help drive positive disruption in economic systems; and sits on the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum. He is President of W.A. de Vigier Stiftung and Vice-chairman of the board of the Venture Foundation.  

Together with his wife Rosalie, André is chair of InTent, a platform which aims to accelerate sustainable solutions by building bridges and connecting people. He is the President of Fondation Tour du Valat, a world-renowned institute dedicated to wetland conservation and serves on the boards of Capitals Coalition, B-Team , Peace Parcs and the Givaudan Foundation.  

André’s also helped establish the Hoffmann Institute at INSEAD, and chairs its Advisory Board, and the Hoffmann Center for Sustainability at the Graduate Institute in Geneva.  

André studied economics at St. Gallen University and holds an MBA from INSEAD.  

Fred Hu

Fred Hu has been the Chairman and CEO of Primavera Capital since he founded the firm in 2010. Prior to that he was a partner and Chairman of Greater China at Goldman Sachs. He is currently Chairman of the Board of Yum China Holdings Inc., and serves on the Board of Directors of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and UBS Group AG. He is also a member of the The Nature Conservancy’s Global Board of Directors and the co-chair of its Asia Pacific Council, a trustee of the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), a member of the Global Advisory Board of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Jerome A. Chazen Institute of International Business at Columbia University, Dean’s Leadership Council at Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard University’s Global Advisory Council. He was previously co-director of the National Center for Economic Research and a professor at Tsinghua University, and also served at the International Monetary Fund, on the Hong Kong Government’s Strategic Development Committee, and the Advisory Committee for the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission. Fred holds a doctoral degree in economics from Harvard University. 

Aditya Mittal

Aditya Mittal is the Chief Executive Officer of ArcelorMittal. He sees climate change as ArcelorMittal’s top strategic issue and wants the company to lead the decarbonization of the steel industry. Aditya serves on the boards of ArcelorMittal, ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India, Aperam and Iconiq Capital. He is a member of the WSJ CEO Council, an alumni of the World Economic Forum Young Global Leader’s Programme and a member of Harvard University’s Global Advisory Council.  

He is an active philanthropist with a particular interest in child health and has been a significant supporter of both UNICEF India and the Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in London. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics with concentrations in Strategic Management and Corporate Finance from the Wharton School in Pennsylvania, United States. 

Janet Yellen

Janet Yellen served as the 78^th United States Secretary of the Treasury from 2021-2025. She previously served as Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 2014-2018, and she was chair of the Council of Economic Advisers from 1997 to 1999 under President Clinton. In addition, she served as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, as well as a member and as vice chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System before her appointment as chair. 

Yellen graduated from Brown University with a degree in economics in 1967 and received her doctorate in economics from Yale University in 1971. She was an assistant professor at Harvard University for five years, going on to work for the Board of Governors, before joining the faculty of the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is professor emeritus at the University of California at Berkeley, where she has been a faculty member since 1980. She has also served as a fellow of the Yale Corporation.