Giant rats could soon fight illegal wildlife trade by sniffing out elephant tusk and rhino horn

Researchers trained African giant pouched rats to detect illegally trafficked wildlife species and remember targets for several months

Frontiers

 

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Researchers trained African giant pouched rats to detect illegally trafficked wildlife species and remember targets for several months. Image APOPO

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Credit: Image: APOPO

In the past, African giant pouched rats have learned to detect explosives and the tuberculosis-causing pathogen. Now, a team of researchers have trained these rats to pick up the scent of pangolin scales, elephant ivory, rhino horn, and African blackwood. These animals and plants are listed as threatened and at high danger of extinction.

“Our study shows that we can train African giant pouched rats to detect illegally trafficked wildlife, even when it has been concealed among other substances,” said Dr Isabelle Szott, a researcher at the Okeanos Foundation, and first co-author of the study published in Frontiers in Conservation Science.

“The rats also continued to detect the wildlife targets after not encountering that species for a long period,” added first co-author Dr Kate Webb, an assistant professor at Duke University.

The research for the present study was conducted at APOPO, a Tanzania-based, non-profit organization that provides a low-tech, cost-efficient solutions to pressing humanitarian challenges.

Ratting out wildlife trafficking

The rats – Kirsty, Marty, Attenborough, Irwin, Betty, Teddy, Ivory, Ebony, Desmond, Thoreau, and Fossey; some of them named after conservationists and advocates against wildlife trafficking – underwent several training stages. During indication training, the rats learned to hold their noses for several seconds in a hole in which the target scent was placed. When they correctly performed this ‘nose poke’ they were rewarded with flavored rodent pellets.

In the next step, the rats were introduced to non-target odors. These included electric cables, coffee beans, and washing powder – objects that are frequently used to mask the scent of wildlife in real-life trafficking operations. “During the discrimination stage, rats learn to only signal the odors of the wildlife targets, while ignoring non-targets,” Szott said.

The rats were also trained to remember smells. At the end of their retention training, they were re-introduced to scents they’d not encountered for five and eight months, respectively. Despite months of non-exposure, the rats showed perfect retention scores, suggesting that their cognitive retention performance resembles that of dogs.

By the end of the training, eight rats were able to identify four commonly smuggled wildlife species among 146 non-target substances.

Rats in action

“Existing screening tools are expensive and time intensive and there is an urgent need to increase cargo screening. APOPO's rats are cost-efficient scent detection tools. They can easily access tight spaces like cargo in packed shipping containers or be lifted up high to screen the ventilation systems of sealed containers,” Szott explained.

The next step, the scientists said, is to develop ways for the rats to work within ports through which smuggled wildlife is trafficked. For this purpose, the rats will be outfitted with custom-made vests. With their front paws, they will be able to pull a small ball attached at the chest of their vest, which emits a beeping sound. This way rats will be able to alert their handlers when they detect a target. “The vests are a great example of developing hardware that could be useful across different settings and tasks, including at a shipping port to detect smuggled wildlife,” said Webb.

This proof-of-principle study demonstrates that rats can successfully identify trafficked wildlife. This does not mean that it comes without limitations, the researchers said. For example, the study was conducted in a controlled environment, which is not reflective of the settings in which wildlife is commonly trafficked or screened by scent-detection animals. To deploy rats for this task, new methods need to be developed, the researchers pointed out.

“Wildlife smuggling is often conducted by individuals engaged in other illegal activities, including human, drug, and arms trafficking. Therefore, deploying rats to combat wildlife trafficking may assist with the global fight against networks that exploit humans and nature,” concluded Webb.

During training, rats were rewarded when they correctly performed a ‘nose poke’ in a hole containing a target. 

In real life settings, rats will be able to pull a small ball attached at the chest of their vest, which emits a beeping sound. This way rats will be able to alert their handlers when they detect a target. Image: APOPO

During their training, the rats were rewarded with flavored rodent pellets. Image: APOPO

The study shows that African giant pouched rats to detect illegally trafficked wildlife, even when it has been concealed among other substances. Image: APOPO

By the end of the training, eight rats were able to identify four commonly smuggled wildlife species among 146 non-target substances. Image: APOPO

The rats learned to identify and remember the scent of pangolin scales, elephant ivory, rhino horn, and African blackwood. These animals and plants are listed as threatened and at high danger of extinction. Image: APOPO

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Journal

Frontiers in Conservation Science

DOI

10.3389/fcosc.2024.1444126 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Ratting on wildlife crime: Training African giant pouched rats to detect illegally trafficked wildlife

Article Publication Date

30-Oct-2024

THE GIANT RAT OF SUMATRA  FIRESIGN THEATRE

 

How many typhoons will make landfall on Taiwan Island this year?

Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

 

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Super Typhoon Gaemi and statistical seasonal forecasting of tropical cyclone landfalls on Taiwan Island

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Credit: CHEN Ziqing

Typhoons, with their severe winds, rain, storm surges, and secondary disasters, have long been a key focus for local governments, meteorological departments, and research institutions, with all parties applying maximum effort in exploring more efficient ways to ensure public safety.

By every mid-May, the research team led by Prof. Kelvin Chan from the School of Atmospheric Sciences at Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU) provides meteorological services to China and neighboring areas, forecasting the number of typhoons for different regions in each year. Recently, the team developed a statistical seasonal forecasting model (SYSU Model) to forecast the number of typhoon landfalls on Taiwan Island. The related article was published recently in Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters.

“This concise, open-source, and effective model utilizes four pre-typhoon-season environmental predictors to forecast the number of typhoons that will land on Taiwan Island by every mid-May. Benefiting from the comprehensive predictor selection method, the hit rate of the model reaches 98% for the period 1979–2022,” says Ms. Ziqing Chen, first author of the article.

Research suggests that large-scale climate phenomena, such as the Antarctic Oscillation, along with the variations of the western Pacific subtropical high, play an important role in steering typhoons towards Taiwan Island. In addition, the Asian summer monsoon and the oceanic tunnel connecting different sea basins are potential factors that affect the formation and tracks of typhoons.

“Being able to forecast typhoon landfall months ahead is of benefit to the relevant regions in making adequate preparations for disaster prevention and mitigation. Furthermore, the open-source model offers an additional reference for operational forecasting, facilitating collaboration between scientific research and meteorological operations. With the continuous improvement and promotion of the SYSU model by the research team, the expectation is that it will serve more regions in the future”, says Prof. Kelvin Chan, corresponding author of the study.

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Journal

Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters

DOI

10.1016/j.aosl.2024.100554 

Article Title

Statistical seasonal forecasting of tropical cyclone landfalls on Taiwan Island

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases

 

Blue Monday

Holidays and days of the week correlate with varying suicide risk globally

University of Tokyo

 

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Locations of the 740 sites in 26 countries included in the study and the percentage of suicide counts on Mondays during the study period.

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Credit: ©2024 Lee, Kang, et al. CC-BY-ND

Researchers found suicide risk varies by day of the week and holiday, with certain days correlating to higher risk globally. They used data from 1971 to 2019 and from 740 locations in 26 countries, collected from the Multi-City Multi-Country Collaborative Research Network database to assess short term variations in suicide risk related to the day of the week and national holidays. They found Mondays and New Year’s Day universally correlated with elevated risk, whereas weekends and other public holidays, or the days after them, varied by region. These findings could help both individuals and mental health professionals.

Every year, millions of people the world over suffer the loss of someone due to suicide. In 2019 alone, over 700,000 lives were lost to suicide, according to the World Health Organization, and it ranks as the fourth-biggest killer amongst 15- to 29-year-olds, ahead of even malaria. The factors behind one’s reason for suicide are known to be various, ranging from individual to social factors. But it has also been known for some time that certain time patterns seem to affect suicide rates.

“Our study examines how the risk of suicide varies by day of the week and compares holidays, such as New Year’s Day, Christmas and national holidays, to regular days,” said Associate Professor Yoonhee Kim from the Department of Global Environmental Health at the University of Tokyo. “We found that Mondays and New Year's Day were associated with a higher risk of suicide in most countries, likely due to increased stress corresponding to the start of new cycles. However, the risk on Christmas was generally less pronounced and varied across regions. Other national holidays, aside from New Year's Day and Christmas, were generally linked to a lower risk of suicide.”

Previous studies on this very sensitive topic mainly focused on individual countries, and typically Western cultures. However, Kim and her team felt inspired to perform a study that compares results across global regions with different lifestyles and cultures using a consistent method — their logic being, by applying a consistent approach across multiple countries, it could provide clearer, more directly comparable results. For example, suicide risks were lower on weekends in many countries in North America, Asia and Europe, but increased in South and Central American countries, Finland and South Africa.

“We hypothesize this may be linked to differing weekend drinking cultures, though further studies are needed because other factors, such as religion and work conditions, might also play a role,” said Kim.

Although their findings provide novel scientific evidence from an international perspective, this is an observational study with several limitations. The team hopes further studies, including those more in depth and with broader interdisciplinary clinical aspects will be conducted to validate findings. The study also considers only a selection of locations within a selection of countries; but despite this, the results have important implications for suicide studies and relevant public health policies.

“We must be aware of temporal fluctuations in risk and pay close attention to them. This awareness is crucial not only for vulnerable populations, but also for those working in mental health services,” concluded Kim. “By recognizing periods of higher risk, such as around certain days of the week and holidays, both individuals and mental health professionals can take preventive actions, provide timely support and create a safer environment for the vulnerable.”

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Journal article:

Whanhee Lee, Cinoo Kang, Chaerin Park, Michelle L Bell, Ben Armstrong, Dominic Roye, Masahiro Hashizume, Antonio Gasparrini, Aurelio Tobias, Francesco Sera, Yasushi Honda, Aleš Urban, Jan Kyselý, Carmen Íñiguez, Niilo Ryti, Yuming Guo, Shilu Tong, Micheline de Sousa Zanotti Stagliorio Coelho, Eric Lavigne, Francesca de'Donato, Yue Leon Guo, Joel Schwartz, Alexandra Schneider, Susanne Breitner, Yeonseung Chung, Sooin Kim, Eunhee Ha, Ho Kim, Yoonhee Kim, “Association of holidays and the day of the week with suicide risk: multicountry, two stage, time series study”, The BMJ, http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2024-077262

 

Useful links:
Department of Global Environmental Health
https://sites.google.com/m.u-tokyo.ac.jp/envhealth
Department of Global Health Policy
https://www.ghp.m.u-tokyo.ac.jp/
Graduate School of Medicine
https://www.m.u-tokyo.ac.jp/english/

Research contact:
Associate Professor Yoonhee Kim
Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo,
7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan
yoonheekim@m.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Press contact:
Mr. Rohan Mehra
Public Relations Group, The University of Tokyo,
7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan
press-releases.adm@gs.mail.u-tokyo.ac.jp

About The University of Tokyo:

The University of Tokyo is Japan's leading university and one of the world's top research universities. The vast research output of some 6,000 researchers is published in the world's top journals across the arts and sciences. Our vibrant student body of around 15,000 undergraduate and 15,000 graduate students includes over 4,000 international students. Find out more at www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/ or follow us on X (formerly Twitter) at @UTokyo_News_en.

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Journal

BMJ

DOI

10.1136/bmj-2024-077262 

Method of Research

Meta-analysis

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Association of holidays and the day of the week with suicide risk: multicountry, two stage, time series study

 

Nanoplastics can reduce the effectiveness of antibiotics

Study reveals previously unexplored risk from plastic exposure

Medical University of Vienna

In a recent study, an international research team with significant involvement from MedUni Vienna has investigated how nanoplastic particles deposited in the body affect the effectiveness of antibiotics. The study showed that the plastic particles not only impair the effect of the drugs, but could also promote the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The results of the study were recently published in the journal Scientific Reports.

In order to investigate whether and how nanoplastic particles in the body interact with antibiotics, the research team led by Lukas Kenner (MedUni Vienna), Barbara Kirchner (University of Bonn) and Oldamur Hollóczki (University of Debrecen) linked a common drug with widely used types of plastic. The focus was on the broad-spectrum antibiotic tetracycline, which is used to treat many bacterial infections, such as those of the respiratory tract, skin or intestines. When it came to plastics, the choice fell on polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS), which are ubiquitous components of packaging materials, as well as nylon 6,6 (N66), which is contained in many textiles such as clothing, carpets, sofa covers and curtains. Nanoplastics are smaller than 0.001millimeters and are considered particularly harmful to humans and the environment due to their small size.

Using complex computer models, the team was able to prove that the nanoplastic particles can bind tetracycline and thus impair the effectiveness of the antibiotic. "The binding was particularly strong with nylon," emphasizes Lukas Kenner, pointing out a largely underestimated danger indoors: "The micro- and nanoplastic load is around five times higher there than outdoors. Nylon is one of the reasons for this: it is released from textiles and enters the body via respiration, for example."

Danger of antibiotic resistance
As the study results show, the binding of tetracycline to nanoplastic particles can reduce the biological activity of the antibiotic. At the same time, binding to nanoplastics could lead to the antibiotic being transported to unintended sites in the body, causing it to lose its targeted effect and possibly cause other undesirable effects. "Our finding that the local concentration of antibiotics on the surface of the nanoplastic particles can increase is particularly worrying," reports Lukas Kenner on another detail from the study. This increase in concentration could lead to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Plastics such as nylon 6,6, but also polystyrene, which bind more strongly to tetracycline, could therefore increase the risk of resistance. "At a time when antibiotic resistance is becoming an ever greater threat worldwide, such interactions must be taken into account," says Kenner.

The study shows that exposure to nanoplastics is not only a direct health risk, but can also indirectly influence the treatment of diseases. "If nanoplastics reduce the effectiveness of antibiotics, the dosage poses a massive problem," says Lukas Kenner with a view to future studies looking at the influence of nanoplastics on other drugs.

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Journal

Scientific Reports

DOI

10.1038/s41598-024-75785-4 

Article Title

The adsorption of drugs on nanoplastics has severe biological impact

Article Publication Date

28-Oct-2024

 

Scientists say plastic on beaches can now be seen from space

Australian researchers have developed a new method for spotting plastic rubbish on our beaches and successfully field tested it on a remote stretch of coastline

RMIT University

 

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Dr Jenna Guffogg on an Australian beach

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Credit: RMIT University

Australian researchers have developed a new method for spotting plastic rubbish on our beaches and successfully field tested it on a remote stretch of coastline. 

The satellite imagery tool developed by RMIT University scientists picks up differences in how sand, water and plastics reflect light, allowing plastics to be spotted on shorelines from more than 600km above.  

Satellite technology is already used to track the massive amounts of plastic floating around our oceans – from relatively small drifts containing thousands of plastic bottles, bags and fishing nets, up to gigantic floating trash islands like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is three times the size of France. 

However, the satellite technology used to spot plastic floating in water doesn’t work so well in spotting plastic lying on beaches, where it can easily blend in with the sand.  

This latest advance, published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin, means we now have an effective way to spot plastic on beaches, where it can be more easily accessed and removed by clean-up operations. 

Oceans of plastic 

We're currently sending well over 10 million tonnes of plastic trash into our oceans every year. It's estimated that by 2030 that figure could reach 60 million. 

Study lead author, Dr Jenna Guffogg, said plastic on beaches can have severe impacts on wildlife and their habitats, just as it does in open waters. 

“Plastics can be mistaken for food, larger animals become entangled and smaller ones, like hermit crabs, become trapped inside items such as plastic containers,” she said.  

“Remote island beaches have some of the highest recorded densities of plastics in the world, and we’re also seeing increasing volumes of plastics and derelict fishing gear on the remote shorelines of northern Australia.” 

Guffogg said if these plastics are not removed, they inevitably fragment further into micro and nano plastics. 

“While the impacts of these ocean plastics on the environment, fishing and tourism are well documented, methods for measuring the exact scale of the issue or targeting clean-up operations, sometimes most needed in remote locations, have been held back by technological limitations,” she said. 

How it works 

The team’s Beached Plastic Debris Index is what’s known as a spectral index, essentially a mathematical formula that sorts patterns of reflected light collected by satellites as they pass over an area, to reveal what you’re most interested in seeing from the image.  

The remote sensing team at RMIT have developed similar tools for monitoring forests and mapping bushfires from space. 

The Beached Plastic Debris Index is tailored to mapping plastic debris in beach environments using high-definition data from the WorldView-3 satellite, which orbits the earth in line with the sun at an altitude of 617 km.  

To test its performance, 14 plastic targets of around two square meters each were placed on a beach in southern Gippsland, Victoria. 

Each target was made of a different type of plastic and was smaller than the satellite’s pixel size of about 3m2. 

The satellite images using the new index were compared with three existing indices, two of which were designed for detecting plastics on land and one for detecting plastics in aquatic settings. 

The BPDI outperformed all three, with the others either struggling to differentiate plastic-contaminated pixels on the beach or tending to mis-classify shadow and water as plastic. 

Study co-author, Dr Mariela Soto-Berelov, said the enhanced separability of the BPDI against water, in addition to sand, suggests its utility is superior in environments where water pixels and plastic-contaminated pixels are likely to coexist.  

“This is incredibly exciting, as up to now we have not had a tool for detecting plastics in coastal environments from space,” she said. 

“The beauty of satellite imagery is that it can capture large and remote areas at regular intervals.  

“Detection is a key step needed for understanding where plastic debris is accumulating and planning clean-up operations, which aligns with several Sustainable Development Goals, such as Protecting Seas and Oceans.”  

Soto-Berelov said the next step is to test the BPDI’s utility in real life scenarios. 

“We’re looking to partner with organisations on the next step of this research; this is a chance to help us protect delicate beaches from plastic waste,” she said. 

Guffogg led this study as part of her joint PhD research at RMIT in Australia and University of Twente in the Netherlands, and now works in the geospatial mapping industry.  

She was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) scholarship. The Worldview-3 imagery was accessed via DigitalGlobe, a US geospatial imagery vendor. 

‘Beached Plastic Debris Index; A modern index for detecting plastics on beaches’ by Jenna Guffogg, Mariela Soto-Berelov, Chris Bellman, Simon Jones and Andrew Skidmore is published in Marine Pollution Bulletin, (DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.117124)

A beach full of plastics

Credit

RMIT University

Plastic targets set up to test the new technology

Credit

RMIT University

Journal

Marine Pollution Bulletin

DOI

10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.117124 

Method of Research

Imaging analysis

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Beached Plastic Debris Index; A modern index for detecting plastics on beaches

 

University of Chicago launches groundbreaking new institute to confront climate change

The Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth will balance the urgency of climate action with society’s need for sustainable growth

University of Chicago

Balancing the urgent need to confront climate change with society’s need for rising living standards and expanded economic growth is the defining challenge of our time. Fossil fuels are the key driver of this challenge. Their low cost makes them the default energy choice to power growth in many settings, yet failure to sharply reduce carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion is putting the world on a course for disruptive climate change.

To address this challenge, the University of Chicago on Oct. 30 launched the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth, an ambitious effort combining frontier research in economics and climate policy, and key energy and climate technologies, with a pioneering approach to education. The result is a first-of-its-kind institute that will produce new and deeper understandings of the climate challenge as well as practical, effective solutions.

“The University of Chicago is distinctly poised to contribute to the understanding of the challenges of climate and energy, and to offer improved approaches for overcoming these challenges,” said President Paul Alivisatos. “Faculty and students from across our ecosystem have expressed their enthusiasm and commitment to bringing our characteristic UChicago approach to the most difficult problems: asking the hardest questions, taking risks, joining ideas in surprising ways from across disciplines, and bringing rigor to every aspect. This approach will inform an integrated set of new education programs which have the power to shape generations of critical thinkers and thoughtful leaders that is so urgently called for. This is our moment to leverage our history and distinctive strengths to uncover the ways for humanity to achieve sustainable growth while also addressing accelerating climate change impacts.”

The Institute launched with strong momentum, drawing an extraordinary response from donors committed to supporting its full range of research and educational programs. The meaningful investments signal tremendous support for the shared vision of President Alivisatos and the faculty directors. Building on this foundation, the Institute plans to hire 20 new faculty members over the next five years. Faculty searches in the fields of law, political science, economics, materials engineering, and AI are underway—underscoring the Institute’s commitment to bringing a wide range of insights to this deeply interdisciplinary challenge.

“We’re thrilled to launch this new Institute and expand the reach of our faculty’s expertise in critical areas,” Provost Katherine Baicker said. “The Institute’s interdisciplinary, collaborative approach is crucial for addressing the complexities of climate change. It will create a dynamic platform that engages the full breadth of insights across our campus community—from the arts and humanities, to the social sciences, to the biological sciences and beyond. This reflects our commitment as a global research leader to bringing our community’s wide range of knowledge to bear in discovering and driving real-world solutions to the planet’s most pressing problems.”

Michael Greenstone, the Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor in Economics, is the Institute’s founding faculty director.

“Families around the world aspire for a better life, and inexpensive energy is key to the growth that unlocks it,” said Greenstone. “The reality is that in many places and settings the least expensive energy options are the fossil fuels that cause climate change. This can put the goals of managing climate change and growth in conflict, and the Institute’s aim is to find ways to balance these two goals, recognizing that both are critical to our well-being.”

The Institute’s research and programming will be driven by three foundational pillars, each major strengths of the University of Chicago. The Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) will move into the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth, bringing considerable expertise and experience in energy policy and market design on a global scale, with dedicated research programs in India and China for the past 10 and five years, respectively.

Prof. Shirley Meng, a world-leading battery scientist, will lead the Energy Technologies Initiative pillar of the Institute, which, among its efforts, is driving major advancements in energy storage technologies widely regarded as a holy grail of the energy transition. The Initiative originates at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) as part of its ongoing work in energy and sustainability.

Prof. David Keith, who joined UChicago in April 2023, will lead the Institute’s Climate Systems Engineering initiative (CSEi). The initiative will produce new ways of thinking about the risks from more than a century of accumulated emissions, and in the process, launch a new and urgently needed field of study encompassing open-systems carbon removal, solar geoengineering, and local interventions to prevent glacial melting.

On the education front, the Institute announced the creation of the Chicago Curriculum on Climate and Sustainable Growth, which will serve as the foundation for a series of new degree programs at the undergraduate and master’s levels at the University of Chicago. Through a 360-degree approach, the curriculum will expose students to the foundational ideas, tradeoffs, and complexities of the global climate and sustainable growth challenge in a way that no other university globally has to date.

“A game change is needed in the climate fight,” said Greenstone. “One that alters understanding of the climate and growth challenge—not just at the University of Chicago but around the world. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring the power of the University of Chicago to bear on this challenge. I am deeply honored and excited to lead this new effort.”

The Institute’s distinctive overall approach introduces a wide range of new research and educational programs, which build on a uniquely powerful foundation.

Markets and Policy

Building on UChicago’s renowned history of applying economic thinking to tackle major societal challenges, the Institute will work to characterize the climate and sustainable growth challenge and uncover the policies and markets that will help to find a balance between these goals. This research will include a distinctive focus on the world’s developing and emerging economies, which are expected to account for 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions over the remainder of the century and where the need for growth is especially acute.

This work will be carried out by EPIC, which has fostered field-defining research—led by more than a dozen leading faculty—for more than a decade. EPIC research covers a wide range of areas, from demonstrating how grid expansion boosts renewables and piloting and scaling the world’s first particulate pollution market in India to developing economic valuations of key species like bats and vultures. In addition, EPIC brings several prominent projects to the Institute, including the Climate Impact Lab and EPIC Clean Air Program, which includes its flagship Air Quality Life Index.

“The balance between climate and growth goals varies around the world, and yet greenhouse gas emissions have the same effect on climate change whether they are emitted in Mumbai, Moscow or Memphis,” said Greenstone. “EPIC will focus on understanding these trade-offs in the world’s key countries and identifying policies and markets that can make the climate and growth challenge easier in them. These efforts will build on the track record of success through EPIC-India and EPIC-China, in addition to our work in the United States and other parts of the world.”

Energy Technologies

Affordable energy storage is often referred to as the holy grail of the clean energy transition—from accelerating the switch to electric vehicles to balancing intermittent renewable electricity sources on the grid. Recognizing this, the Institute’s Energy Technologies Initiative (ETI) will drive major advancements in energy storage technologies through a combination of basic research and industry partnerships.

Researchers at UChicago PME and partners at Argonne National Laboratory collectively make up the nation’s largest cluster of energy technology experts. Argonne is now home to one of just two Department of Energy national battery innovation hubs, the Energy Storage Research Alliance (ESRA), led by Meng, who holds a joint appointment at Argonne.

“The demand for high-performance, low-cost, and sustainable energy storage solutions is on the rise, especially those with potential to deeply decarbonize heavy-duty transportation and the grid,” said Meng. “To achieve this, energy storage technology must reach levels of unprecedented performance, surpassing the capabilities of current lithium-ion technology.”

Meng and her colleagues are working with industry to accelerate translation of the science developed within ETI through the Energy Transition Network (ETN), a recently launched framework led by Meng to engage seamlessly with industry.

“We are building a robust ecosystem to translate critically important science to impact in everyday life.”

Climate Systems Engineering

Guided by UChicago’s core beliefs of free expression and open discourse, the Climate Systems Engineering initiative (CSEi) will explore approaches and technologies that may be needed to manage the greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere, as well as vigorously debate the human and governance challenges surrounding these potential innovations.

Because greenhouse gases take thousands of years to cycle out of the atmosphere, global average temperatures will remain high long after emissions cease. Sea level will continue to rise for centuries as polar ice melts and the heat waves and storms associated with climate change will persist. CSEi is addressing this challenge by exploring technologies to cool the planet through carbon removal and solar geoengineering, and technologies for preventing glacial melting in the intervening years.

Applying insights from systems engineering and climate science, CSEi’s goal is to advance understand of the potential benefits and risks of using these technologies to inform decisionmakers and to educate students who will face the challenges of managing industrial civilization on a fragile planet. The mix of research topics will evolve as the initiative matures driven by the interests of collaborating researchers and by policy-relevant questions posed by governments and civil society, spanning scientific topics and associated dimensions such as social context, governance, risk, benefit, and ethics.

“The goal of research on climate systems engineering is to learn more, to understand better which of these techniques might work, which might not work, what their risks are, how we could reduce those risks, and how we can inform sensible public policy decisions about these complicated technologies,” said Keith. “Our pursuit of knowledge right now does not commit us to a course of action but gives our children more information with which to make these tough decisions down the line.”

A Rich Climate Ecosystem

The climate and sustainable growth challenge is ever evolving, requiring new ideas, understandings and solutions. Therefore, the Institute will relentlessly work to support the UChicago community as they develop new areas of inquiry, including by seeding new research initiatives.

Reflecting the importance of this part its mission, the Institute is today announcing 11 venture and seed fund recipients. Grant recipients are leading groundbreaking research on everything from dramatically improved weather forecasts that will support climate adaptation to using AI to develop advanced materials for energy technologies. (Learn more about the awardees here).

Additionally, the Institute will create new programs to bridge disciplinary divides, foster collaboration, and support students. These include visiting and postdoctoral scholar programs, support for academic workshops and conferences, and a host of opportunities for students such as funding for research assistantships and internships, climate career treks, and much more.

Chicago Curriculum on Climate and Sustainable Growth

The Institute is introducing the Chicago Curriculum on Climate and Sustainable Growth. The Chicago Curriculum will provide a 360-degree education on the climate and sustainable growth challenge. It will require students to learn about the science of climate change, the economics and policy options, the technologies that are available today and might be tomorrow, the politics, how philosophers have thought about the relationship between humankind and the planet, and more.

A cornerstone of the curriculum will be an experiential learning course that brings students to rural India or sub-Saharan Africa to experience life with little electricity, an energy boom town to see the local economic benefits of energy production, New York City to meet with capital allocators who are ruthlessly focused on private returns to their investments, or national capitals around the world to meet with policymakers. This experiential course will challenge students to hold multiple competing thoughts at once and use their new interdisciplinary tools to understand them.

“To confront one of the greatest challenges of this generation, we must train the citizens, leaders and workforce of tomorrow to have a comprehensive understanding of the problem and personally experience it and its many nuances from many different viewpoints,” said David Weisbach, the Walter J. Blum Professor of Law, who is leading the efforts to create the curriculum. “Only armed with this foundational knowledge and authentic understanding can this next generation succeed in confronting the climate challenge in a way my generation was never able.”

In addition to completing these classes, students will specialize in a particular area of interest (policy or data science, for example). The goal for students is to develop a diverse knowledge base so they will be able to see the climate challenge from its many angles, appreciate the societal and economic trade-offs, and develop an understanding of what is required economically, technically, and politically to confront it. The Institute looks to sponsor an interdisciplinary undergraduate major in addition to master’s programs.

“Throughout its history, the University of Chicago has revolutionized the world of general education, produced field-defining breakthroughs and introduced entirely new disciplines and new ways of applying existing disciplines to novel problems,” Alivisatos said. “From founding the fields of astrophysics, sociology, price theory economics, to newer fields like molecular engineering, University of Chicago faculty have laid the groundwork of modern thought to solve some of society’s greatest challenges and brought those advances out of academia to make lasting societal change. It is this unique legacy that sets the University of Chicago apart and that will allow this new Institute to break down barriers to progress on climate change and create pathways for solutions where none were thought to exist.”

Learn more at the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth website.