KIETS Climate Leaders Program

The KIETS Climate Leaders Program (CLP) led by Amanda Mueller in collaboration with Senior Faculty Fellow Jeremiah Johnson, associate professor in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, focuses on solutions to mitigating or reversing the negative effects of climate change via technical, managerial, political or economic approaches that, if adopted, offer a promise of impactful developments that will help humanity deal with this existential threat. The program supports student scholars’ engagement with our world’s best leaders and organizations working on climate change solutions to help empower, educate, and inspire young people to embark on careers and become innovative leaders in mitigating climate change, which affects almost all aspects of people’s lives. It is expected that the scholars will become a network of committed emerging leaders in the area of climate change solutions. The program strengthens the student’s understanding, communication, engagement, leadership, and professional development around climate change through monthly meetings, a three-day intensive academy, a fall symposium, and three to sixth-month internship placements. The students’ three to six-month internship placements are strengthening the workforce necessary to combat climate change impacts.

FY 2024-25 spans two CLP cohorts. The 14 students in the 2024 cohort (2 undergraduate, 12 graduate, representing 6 NC State Colleges) are approaching climate change in innovative ways to improve agriculture, forest conservation, risks from infectious diseases, carbon capture sequestration, energy hubs, and alternative energy sources, flood modeling and flood mitigation/adaptation, landscape design, community engagement, public policy, and environmental justice. The 2024 scholars have engaged in monthly sessions on Climate 101, Systems Thinking Approach and Mitigation, Theory of Change Model with the City of Raleigh’s Community Climate Action Plan, Communications for different audiences, the three-day intensive academy, Global vs. Local through current events and Sustainable Development Goals with the Fulbright Germany students.

All 14 scholars secured internships. Thirteen have completed their internships and one is completing theirs this fall. Internship Placements for the 2024 CLP cohort included the AmeriCorps Coastal Community Resilience Immersive Training, Carolina Wetlands Association, Center for Global Health at Weill Cornell Medicine, Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry, Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center, Department of the Interior – US Geological Survey, Johnson Matthey, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Mississippi State University Global Coast Community Design Studio, National Renewable Energy Lab, NC Agricultural and Technical State University, NC Coastal Federation, NC Cooperative Extension, and Plant Science Research Center – USDA-ARS.

The three-day Intensive Academy took place in Morehead City, NC (May 6-8, 2024) with partners from Moorehead City staff and Councilman, Town of Beaufort County Commissioner, the Division of Coastal Management, NC Sea Grant, NC Office of Recovery and Resiliency, NC Coastal Federation, Croatan National Forest, local fishers and farmers, Beaufort Grocery, Lookout Cruises, NC State’s Center for Marine Science and Technology and NC State University Faculty. The students even participated in a tidal marsh cleanup event with the NC Coastal Federation.

Other partners engaged with CLP students during monthly academy meetings, including Citizens Climate Lobby, Durham Museum of Life and Science, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Lenoir County Emergency Services, NC State University Libraries, Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center, Sustain Triangle, and NC State’s Global Engagement Office. The CLP has established several partnerships through financial support (NC State’s Provost Office and Breakthrough Energy) and added new placements to our prearranged internship hosts (2025 = All We Are, Bipartisan Policy Center, Citizen’s Climate Lobby, Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). The CLP continues to have conversations with multiple entities that are interested in partnering with KIETS on this endeavor and/or serving as internship hosts for future cohorts of students.

The 3rd Annual Climate Leaders Program Fall Symposium, “Think and Do: Climate Challenges and Solutions” was held September 19-20, 2024. Over 229 people attended the symposium which was an increase from 2023. CLP scholars presented lightning talks and posters on their internships and/or their related research. The 2024 keynote speakers and panelists discussed Climate Change and Mental Health, Innovations in US Domestic Climate Policy, Extreme Temperature and Health, Comparing Flooding in Global Watersheds, Electrifying Transportation, and Reducing Greenhouse Gases in Food Production. Twenty-three students presented posters and University programs and local non-profits and businesses hosted tables at our Innovation Showcase.

Amanda Mueller continues to serve on the leadership team that is developing NC State’s Climate Solutions Collaborative (https://provost.ncsu.edu/university-interdisciplinary-programs/climate-solutions-collaborative/) and a proposal for an NSF Research Traineeship Program (NRT) at NC State. Additional efforts have the CLP collaborating with NC State’s Office of Global Engagement’s work with Fulbright Germany, the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany – Atlanta, the Transatlantic Climate Bridge and Raleigh’s Sister Cities program; the North Carolina State Climate Office; the Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center; and NC State University’s Coastal Resilience and Sustainability Initiative, Sustainable Futures Initiative, and Sustainability Office, among others.

In addition to Amanda Mueller and Jeremiah Johnson, KIETS team members are closely engaged in the CLP activities. Tara Spivey continues to support the monthly sessions, intensive academy, and symposium. Cordella Rashid manages the financial and HR needs of the program, including the posting of a new position for a Climate Leaders Program Coordinator, and Raj Narayan provides program guidance and support in developing partnerships and collaborations.

In FY 2023-24 the CLP received several financial awards including the following: (1.) R.L. Rabb Science and Society Symposia – $7,000 for Symposium speakers; (2) NC State Sustainability Funds – awarded $22,115; (3) Breakthrough Energy – $150,000 to support 5 graduate students in the program (funds utilized in FY23-24 and FY24-25; (4) Provost Office – $125,000. In FY 2024-25, we continue to utilize the funds provided by Breakthrough Energy and we have asked for increased support from the Provost’s Office ($150,000). During the internships of the 2024 cohort (spanning FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25), internship hosts provided financial support of $16,459 and an in-kind match of $7,404 (total = $23,863).

To date, eight students who were CLP scholars have graduated from NC State University and two just defended their dissertations. They currently hold positions with the NC Utilities Commission – Regulatory Analyst, Brookfield Renewable U.S. – Energy Trading Analyst, Surface 678 – Landscape designer (x2), University of Nevada, Reno Extension, UNC Chapel Hill – graduate student in the Department of City and Regional Planning, and continued to receive their Ph.D. at NC State.

Additional current and alumni CLP student scholar new honors and awards include:

• National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps (NSF I-Corps, summer 2024) on green steel production
• First place in the CATALYZE Commercialization Conference student pitch competition (prize of $2,000 to support the development of start-up’s product)
• Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) Graduate Fellow, NCSU, 2023 – 2024
• College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Graduate Student Sustainability Award
• Accepted to the Cambridge – Holocene Climates Masters Program
• Internship with OJB Landscape Architecture

Notable CLP Faculty Mentor accomplishments honors and awards include the following:

• Fanxing Li:
  • Submitted a patent application for novel isothermal sorbent materials for biomass gasification to produce carbon-negative hydrogen
  • Named as Thomas M. Clausi Distinguished Professor in Chemical Engineering
  • Invited to give 5 keynote or invited lectures related to the CLP-supported topic at national and international conferences and departmental seminars

• Joe Sagues – 2023 NC State Univesity Biological and Agricultural Engineering Outstanding Young Faculty Award
• Katherine Anarde – featured in multiple media outlets on Sunny Day Flooding
  • 2024: NC Sea Grant, Sunny with a chance of floods
  • 2024: Eos, Barrier Islands Are at the Forefront of Climate Change Adaptation
  • 2024: Fox Weather Live, Homes falling into the ocean in Rodanthe
  • 2024: Washington Post, Anatomy of a flood
  • 2024: Earth’s Future, Transdisciplinary Research Supports the Sustainability of Barrier Island Systems Threatened by Climate Change

One recent publication with a CLP Scholar as lead author (students and mentors authoring the papers are in red):

• Lower, S. C. Dey, T. Vook, M. Nimlos, S. Park, and W. J. Sagues. 2023. “Catalytic graphitization of biocarbon for Li-ion anodes: A mini-review” ChemSusChem (IF: 9.14), e202300729

 

Some of the recent publications and communications from CLP Faculty Mentors (CLP mentors and their CLP students authoring the papers are in red) on work supported by their mentor stipend:

• Anarde, K., Moore, L.J., Murray, A.B., & Reeves, I.R.B (2024). The future of developed barrier systems: Part 2. Alongshore complexities and emergent climate change dynamics. Earths Future, 12, e2023EF004200. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023EF004200
• Anarde, K., Moore, L.J., Murray, A.B., & Reeves, I.R.B (2024). The Future of Developed Barrier Systems Part I: Pathways Toward Uninhabitability, Drowning, and Rebound. Earths Future. 12, e2023EF003672. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023EF003672
• Beall, J. M., Peterson, M. N., Larson, L. R., Binder, A., Knollenberg, W., Pilgreen, D. G., Johnson, J., & Myers, G. (in review). Framing climate change communication to align with cultural cognition and political ideology. Global Environmental Change.
• Cai, R., Yang, K., Wang, X., Rukh, M., Saberi Bosari, A., Giavedoni, E., Pierce, A., Brody, L., Tang, W., Westmoreland, P.R., Li, F. 2024. High-throughput design of complex oxides as isothermal, redox-activated CO2 sorbents for green hydrogen generation. Energy and Environmental Science, 2024, 17, 6279-6290.
• Carr, M. M., Gold, A. C., Harris, A., Anarde, K., Hino, M., Sauers, N., Da Silva, G., Gamewell, C., & Nelson, N. G. (2024). Fecal bacteria contamination of floodwaters and a coastal waterway from tidallydriven stormwater network inundation. GeoHealth, 8(4), e2024GH001020. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GH001020
• C. Dey, L. Lower, T. Vook, M. N. Islam, W. J. Sagues, S. D. Han, M. Nimlos, S. S. Kelley, and S. Park. 2024. “Catalytic graphitization of pyrolysis oil for anode application in lithium-ion batteries”. Green Chemistry (IF: 9.3), 26, 15, 8840-8853 https://doi.org/10.1039/D4GC01647E
• C. Dey, B. Worfolk, L. Lower, W. J. Sagues, M. Nimlos, S. S. Kelley, and S. Park. 2024. “Phenolic resin derived hard carbon anode for sodium-ion batteries: A review”. ACS Energy Letters (IF: 22.0), 9, 2590 – 2614
• Franzluebbers, A. 2024. Cattle and Carbon. The Carolina Cattle Connection. September 2024 (the first of series of monthly articles)
• , M. and Anarde, K., Fidell, T., McCune, R., Thelen, T., Farquhar, E., Woodard, P., Whipple, A. Land-based sensors reveal high frequency of coastal flooding. (in review)
• Sagues, W.J. “The Quest for Net Zero” interviewed on the “Farm, Food, and You” podcast hosted by NCSU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences https://farmsfoodyou.buzzsprout.com/1095827/14021098-the-quest-for-net-zero and published in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences News. https://cals.ncsu.edu/news/joe-sagues-carbon-recycling/
• Seekamp, E., Savage, A., Knollenberg, W., Cutts, B., Russell, Z. 2024. Co-Designing a Community-driven Information Hub for Recovery and Resiliency. Paper presented at the 2024 Social Coast Forum, February 12-14, Charleston, SC.
• Shipman, M., Johnson, J., Sinha, A. 2024. Study Outlines Cost-Effective Paths to Eliminating Greenhouse Gas Production. NC State News. September 18, 2024.
• Thelen, T., Anarde, K. A., Dietrich., C., & Hino., M. (2024). Wind and rain combine with tides to cause frequent and unexpected coastal floods. Water Research, 266, 122339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2024.122339

Additional Activities Supported or Enhanced by CLP:

• NC State/SE CASC visit by Secretary Deb Haaland, USGS Director Dave Applegate, and BOEM Director Liz Klein to the Center in February https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMdclxPUIBg