Institute at Brown for Environment and Society

06/03/2026

Tune in to this week's episode of the Possibly podcast! 🐄

We talk a lot about the carbon pollution that comes along with eating beef, but this week on Possibly we’re asking: what about eating dairy? How do they compare?

06/03/2026

Over Commencement and Reunion Weekend, community members gathered for the ENVS Cocktail Party, ocean and plastics scholars shared insights at IBES' Commencement Forum, and classmates, families, and friends celebrated during the Environmental Sciences and Studies Departmental Ceremony 🎓🐻🌎

View photos, videos, and highlights from the weekend on our website: https://ibes.brown.edu/news/2026-05-28/commencement-recap-2026

06/01/2026

"Two books about China’s ancient past" — including IBES and Brown University History Department Associate Professor Brian Lander's "The King's Harvest" — "offer very different perspectives on its place in the world today," Tobie Meyer-Fong writes for the Los Angeles Review of Books (LARB). Read on: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/ancient-china-brian-lander-jessica-rawson-civilization-environment/

“These two books about China’s ancient past offer readers very different perspectives on China’s place in the world today: One familiarizes the history of ancient China by linking it to current ecological anxieties, the other taps into and amplifies an enduring fascination with the exotically long ago and far away.”

Tobie Meyer-Fong reviews Jessica Rawon’s “Life and Afterlife In Ancient China” and Brian Lander’s “The King’s Harvest.” https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/ancient-china-brian-lander-jessica-rawson-civilization-environment/

05/27/2026

Congratulations, ENVS Class of 2026! Sunday's rain couldn't dampen the spirits of our graduates and their families, as dozens of community members gathered to celebrate 's academic journeys and all that lies ahead for the next generation of climate leaders 🌍🎓🐻

05/27/2026

Tune in to this week's episode of the Possibly podcast!

This week on Possibly we explain why the paper that receipts are printed on can add a lot of complications, for recycling, and for your health too

05/24/2026

Happy Commencement, Class of 2026! Families, friends, and alumni are invited to watch along today around 2:30 p.m. as our Environmental Sciences and Studies graduates cross the stage and begin a new chapter: http://bit.ly/IBES-DC-26

05/22/2026

Join us tomorrow for IBES' Commencement Forum, "Ocean Health, Our Health"! Can't make it in person? Watch along via livestream: https://livestream.brown.edu/ibes

Brown University Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

The ocean plays a critical role in supporting all life on Earth, even as climate change, plastics, and overfishing test the limits of its resilience. This Commencement Weekend, join Brown University faculty and alumni experts to understand how we got here, and how we can all help turn the tide for a sustainable future.

Featured speakers:
- Miriam Goldstein ’03: Executive Director, National Ocean Protection Coalition
- Baylor Fox-Kemper: Professor in the Brown University Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences and IBES Faculty Affiliate
- Rebecca Gasior Altman, PhD’08: Writer, environmental sociologist, and IBES Research Affiliate
- Moderator Kim Cobb: Lawrence and Barbara Margolis Director of IBES, Professor of Environment and Society & Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

🗓️ Saturday, May 23
⏰ 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.
📍 The Watson School of International and Public Affairs at Brown University (111 Thayer St) & livestream (link coming soon)

Registration encouraged: https://events.brown.edu/ibes/event/329892-ibes-commencement-forum-ocean-health-our-health

05/21/2026

Supported by IBES faculty and alumni mentors, a team of Brown undergraduates advanced to the finals of a global impact investing competition last month, placing third overall against dozens of graduate teams from around the world. Learn more: https://ibes.brown.edu/news/2026-05-19/turner-miint
Brown University Department of Economics

Supported by IBES faculty and alumni mentors, a team of Brown undergraduates advanced to the finals of the Turner MIINT Competition and placed third overall against dozens of graduate teams from around the world.

05/20/2026

Tune in to this week's episode of the Possibly podcast, a coproduction of IBES and Ocean State Media!

These rare mushrooms are famous for their intense flavor, and their expensive price. But climate change may be driving those prices even higher

05/15/2026

Just over a week away! Join us for IBES' 2026 Commencement Forum, "Ocean Health, Our Health: Science, History, and Policy," in person at The Watson School of International and Public Affairs at Brown University and online at https://livestream.brown.edu/ibes

Learn more and register: https://events.brown.edu/ibes/event/329892-ibes-commencement-forum-ocean-health-our-health

Brown University Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

The ocean plays a critical role in supporting all life on Earth, even as climate change, plastics, and overfishing test the limits of its resilience. This Commencement Weekend, join Brown University faculty and alumni experts to understand how we got here, and how we can all help turn the tide for a sustainable future.

Featured speakers:
- Miriam Goldstein ’03: Executive Director, National Ocean Protection Coalition
- Baylor Fox-Kemper: Professor in the Brown University Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences and IBES Faculty Affiliate
- Rebecca Gasior Altman, PhD’08: Writer, environmental sociologist, and IBES Research Affiliate
- Moderator Kim Cobb: Lawrence and Barbara Margolis Director of IBES, Professor of Environment and Society & Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences

🗓️ Saturday, May 23
⏰ 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.
📍 The Watson School of International and Public Affairs at Brown University (111 Thayer St) & livestream (link coming soon)

Registration encouraged: https://events.brown.edu/ibes/event/329892-ibes-commencement-forum-ocean-health-our-health