News & Events

Apply by the early bird deadline on January 9!

Climate change is one of the biggest problems facing our world and there are countless ways to approach solutions. In this non-credit-bearing weekly online class, we’ll help you come up with an idea, test the viability of your idea, and connect with fellow climate entrepreneurs. “How to Create a Climate Venture” is open to Harvard students, alumni, faculty, and staff, and affiliates at Stanford, MIT, Dartmouth, schools in the ClimateCAP network, and schools in the Greentown Labs TEX-E Consortium (Rice, Texas A&M, UT-Austin, Prairie View A&M, and University of Houston). Apply for the spring 2025 class now!

It’s time for our annual toiletries drive to support the Cambridge YWCA! Help support the drive by donating unused and unopened toiletries, cosmetics, and menstrual hygiene products.

Join us at our Freecycle in the Smith Campus Center! Drop off reusable goods you no longer need, and browse a fantastic selection of items brought by others.

Our Freecycles have been so popular that we are hosting three this semester! The first one is in just under three weeks: January 28th. Bring any unwanted holiday gifts, and find something to re-gift to yourself! The Spring Freecycle dates are January 28th, March 11th, May 13th. We’ll be in the Harvard Commons in the Smith Campus Center, from 11am to 2pm on each date. If you haven’t been to a Freecycle before: bring your reusable goods you no longer need, and browse goods that others have brought. Check this page to keep track of Freecycle dates and to see others around campus, like HGSE’s in a couple weeks!

Start the new year off fresh! This popular event promotes reuse and functions like a yard sale, except everything is free. Donate items you no longer need by dropping them off in the bin in the Gutman Library entryway starting December 11th, or directly at the Freecycle. Pick up something new-to-you that you could use. A donation is not required to shop the Freecycle.

Join the Harvard Alumni for Climate and the Environment and the Harvard Alumni for Agriculture and Food shared interest groups to meet the newly appointed Ray A. Goldberg Professor of the Global Food System at the Harvard Kennedy School, Professor Wolfram Schlenker. Professor 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. He is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and serves on the Board of Reviewing Editors at Science. Please submit questions you would like to have asked here.

The Salata Institute and the Harvard Alumni Association present Harvard Voices on Climate Change, a virtual series featuring Harvard faculty and fellows working on different dimensions of the climate challenge. This session features David Brooks, Haley Family Professor of Computer Science, and Gage Hills, Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering, both from the Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. As the demand for computational power grows, so does its environmental footprint. Professors Brooks and Hills will explore how advancements in computing can contribute to a more sustainable future. Join us to hear about emerging technologies, energy-efficient designs, and the role of interdisciplinary innovation in addressing climate challenges.

This talk will be a radical exploration of how higher education can advance transformative climate justice.

Amid the worsening climate crisis and intensifying inequities, higher education can play a powerful role in addressing the intersecting crises facing humanity. Institutions of higher education hold untapped potential to advance social justice and reduce climate injustices. However, universities are not yet structured to accelerate social change for the public good.

In Climate Justice and the University, Jennie Stephens, Professor of Climate Justice at the National University of Ireland Maynooth and a Professor at Northeastern University (currently on leave), reimagines the potential of higher education to advance human well-being and promote ecological health. She will be introduced by John E. Fernández, director of the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiaitve, and converse with Naomi Oreskes, the Henry Charles Lea Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University.

On Wednesday, February 5th, from 1-1:50 PM in FXB G12 or online, please join us for the third installment in our Environments for Health and Happiness Seminar Series, featuring Dr. Gaurab Basu. In this event, titled “Responding to Climate Change – Challenges and Opportunities for Mental Health and Well-Being”, Dr. Basu will explore the mechanisms by which climate change impacts the mental health and well-being of our communities, and challenge the audience to explore the ways in which climate solutions can enable the deeper work of creating well-being.