From talks to hands-on activities, from the global to our backyard, Climate IAP has something for everyone!
Got an event you'd like listed? Please contact us!
Please note that details are subject to change. We recommend verifying times and locations at the official MIT IAP website. Many, but not all, Climate IAP activities are listed under the Climate and Energy, Environment, and Sustainability topics
1.S979 Infrastructure Design for Climate Change
Team-oriented project based class takes on the problem of sea level rise, specifically in Cambridge, Boston, and Singapore, while relevant to other large coastal cities.
Class sessions Mon. January 9 - Fri. January 13, 10:00AM-noon
Final project presentations Thu Jan 19, 10:00AM-noon, Room 1-050
Instructors: Prof. Herbert Einstein (Civil & Environmental Eng), Dr. Ari Epstein (Terrascope)
Energy Policy in the context of Climate Change: the case of Mexico
Seminar examines Mexico's 2013 Energy Reform program as case study for how policymakers redesign the energy sector
Jan. 9, 11, 18, 20, 23, 10:30AM-noon, E40-496 (Pye Conference Room)
Instructor: Dr. Lourdes Melgar, CIS Wilhelm Fellow, former Deputy Secretary of Energy of Mexico
Sponsors: Center for International Studies, MIT Mexico Program
No advance registration required
Waste Management 101: Where Does Our Trash Go?
Explore the path of trash, recycling, and compost from the receptacle to their ultimate end, concluding with a hands-on session on inclusive "2nd life" waste practices for developing countries.
When: Tue-Thu Jan. 10-12, 2017, 1-4pm each day
Where: Tue-Wed 4-159, Thu N51-337
Sponsors: MIT Waste Alliance, Graduate Student Council, D-Lab
RSVP by Jan. 6
How to Design Electric Vehicles
Lecture series with industry experts, MIT faculty and researchers presenting the basic building blocks of electric vehicles and their infrastructure
6 sessions, Tues-Thu Jan 10-12 and Tues Thu Jan 17-19, 1:30-4:30, Room 32-155
Lectures are open to all MIT students and staff; the associated lab is only for MIT engineering majors, sophmore or above. Register here.
Sponsor: MIT-SUTD International Design Center, Mechanical Engineering
Fusion energy and MIT's pathway for accelerated demonstration with high-magnetic field tokamaks
Key concepts of magnetic fusion energy, current state of research, and MIT's proposed pathway toward smaller unit size, at lower cost, and on a timescale relevant to climate change.
Wed Jan 11, 2:00-3:00 in Room 1-190
Speaker: Professor Zach Hartwig
Sponsor: Plasma Science and Fusion Center
Alcator C-Mod Fusion Reactor Tour
Visit the Alcator C-Mod tokamak, a major fusion energy experiment that recently completed its final run with breakthrough results.
Wed Jan 11, 4:00-5:00 in Building NW17-218
Sponsor: Plasma Science and Fusion Center
Lunch & Learn with startup Soli
Learn more about new startup Soli, which lets consumers leverage their spending to reduce CO2 emissions and fight climate change.
Thursday Jan 12, 12-1pm, Room 10-063
Lunch provided, please RSVP
Sponsors: MIT Energy Club Climate Change Community and Soli
Climate Change Film Series
Thu Jan 12, 7pm: Years of Living Dangerously (Room 32-123)
Thu Jan 19, 7pm: Before the Flood (Room 4-270)
Thu Jan 26, 7pm: The Age of Consequences, with post-viewing discussion with producer (Room 32-123)
Thu Feb 2, 7pm: How to Let Go of the World and Love All The Things Climate Can't Change (Room 4-270)
Sponsor: Fossil Free MIT
Powering MIT
Learn about the operation and evolution toward renewables in MIT's campus energy supply with these back-to-back sessions
Friday, January 13:
9-10am: Innovative Energy Solutions for a Growing Campus (Summit Farms solar purchase agreement)
10-11am: An Inside Look at MIT's Energy Infrastructure (Central Utilities Plant)
11am-noon: Tour the Central Utilities Plan
Sponsor: Departement of Facilities
Advance registration required: contact Bernadette Drinkwater, bdrink@mit.edu
MIT Green Labs
Learn how to manage your research work in a way that maximizes resource conservation.
Tue Jan 17, 12:00-1:00
Advance signup required
Sponsors: Environment, Health and Safety Office, Department of Facilities, Office of Sustainability
Climate Action Hands On: Harnessing Science with Communities to Cut Carbon
Using citizen science to tackle urban methane leaks
Citizen Science Overview: Wed Jan 18, 1:00-3:30, Room 4-153
Methane Leak Hackathon: Mon Jan 23, 9:00-1:00, Room 10-150
Sniffing Urban Leaks: Tues Jan 31, 10:00-2:00, location TBD (field work)
Putting Citizen Data to Use: Wed Feb 1, 1:00-3:30, Room 4-153
Sponsors: ClimateX - MITACAL - FFMIT
Advance registration required, by Jan. 18
New financing models for funding fusion energy
Discuss some of the necessary financial ingredients for launching a financially attractive investment vehicle to commercialize fusion technology.
Mon Jan 23, 2:00-3:00, NW17-218
Instructor: Professor Andrew Lo, MIT Sloan School of Management
Sponsor: Plasma Science and Fusion Center
Visualizing Climate Change with Virtual Reality
Within this Media Lab workshop on presenting data in visceral 3D formats, one track focuses on climate change. Work with startup Before It’s Too Late, who is developing climate change stories, solutions, and simulations using virtual reality. No prior VR experience needed.
Mon Jan 23 and Tue Jan 24, 2-6pm, MIT Media Lab (E15)
Registration required, you must be able to attend the full 2-day session
Sponsors: Before It's Too Late, MIT Media Lab (part of the DataVR module of IAP course "Law and Policy Data Analytics"
ESI Hackathon for Climate
Come together to brainstorm, propose, and develop nature-based solutions to climate change. Choose among three tracks: the material world, the digital world, and open.
Fri Jan 27, 8:30-5:30, Samberg Conference Center
Advance registration required, by Jan 26
Sponsor: Environmental Solutions Initiative, Conservation International
Residential Waste Audit - W70 New House
Help rethink how we manage campus residential waste, ultimately making W70 one of the most efficient and sustainable residential buildings on campus.
Mon Jan 30, 9:00-3:30PM (in shifts)
Advance signup required, by 1/20
Sponsors: Office of Sustainability, Residential Life Programs, Department of Facilities
Climate Science and Policy: Now More Than Ever!
A fast-paced but accessible introduction to the climate system, linking the social and scientific aspects of climate change.
Talks: Mon Jan. 30 - Wed Feb. 1, 5:00-7:00 PM / NOTE Wed session room change to E25-111
World Climate Negotiations simulation activity: Thu Feb. 2, 4:00-7:00pm
Sponsor: Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change
Advance registration requested
How to Control the Climate
What tools exist, or could reasonably be developed, to directly alter the Earth's climate? What are the limits to solar geoengineering? What are the ethics might apply to the development of such tools?
Thursday, Feb. 2, 2:00-3:00PM, NW17-218
Instructor: David Keith, Professor of Applied Physics, Harvard University
Sponsor: Plasma Science and Fusion Center