Revolutionary Research Insider | Issue XX

Summer is winding down, but there's no end in sight to the heat records being broken around the world.

At the University of Massachusetts Amherst , faculty and students across schools and colleges are working to address and mitigate the effects of climate change through innovative research. In this issue of Revolutionary Research Insider, we share two examples of research with real-world impact—one close to home, the other in Africa.

Ensuring Equity in the Energy Transition

The world is in the midst of a vital, fast-moving transition to an energy system based on renewable sources rather than fossil fuels, in order to mitigate the climate crisis. Full of possibility, this transition is marked by massive changes across multiple sectors, presenting many complex challenges.

At UMass Amherst, a graduate research program known as ELEVATE: Elevating Equity Values in the Transition of the Energy System, associated with the university's Energy Transition Institute, is working to solve both technical and social problems associated with the energy transition. With guidance from faculty mentors, graduate students are partnering across fields to study these issues, engaging local communities in every stage of their research. At the same time, they are receiving valuable training for their future careers.

"We're looking for students who are interested in collaborating across disciplines," says Zoe Getman-Pickering, ELEVATE program coordinator. "We have engineers combining their expertise with anthropologists, and computer programmers working with economists. By bringing their unique knowledge and skills to a problem, they’re able to find more novel and innovative approaches to solving it."

As its name suggests, the ELEVATE program comes at the energy transition through an equity lens.

"One of the big focuses of the program is how we can make sure that, as we’re transitioning to green energy, the benefits of the transition are being equitably distributed, as are the costs, so we’re not continuing to exacerbate historical wrongs," says Getman-Pickering.

Read more about how ELEVATE is working to help Massachusetts communities in the energy transition.

Research to Protect Elephants

Halfway around the globe, UMass scientists are conducting research to protect endangered elephant populations.

UMass Amherst researchers, led by Professor Timothy Randhir in the UMass Department of Environmental Conservation, are partnering with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) on first-of-its kind research into how global climate change affects African elephants. According to Randhir, more than 100,000 elephants disappeared in the span of a decade, leaving approximately 415,000 elephants in Africa today. Senior elephants are most at risk, due to a reduced ability to cope with the stresses of climate change.

Learn about the threats posed to elephants and what can be done to protect them in this video.

Like what you read here? Visit our website to explore more UMass Amherst research and innovation, or sign up to receive the Revolutionary Research e-newsletter in your inbox four times a year for more great news, stories, and profiles of researchers.