{"id":15987,"date":"2026-01-06T22:32:31","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T22:32:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/06\/powering-up-and-saving-the-planet\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T22:32:31","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T22:32:31","slug":"powering-up-and-saving-the-planet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ideainthebox.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/06\/powering-up-and-saving-the-planet\/","title":{"rendered":"Powering up (and saving) the planet"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Water shortages in Southern California made an indelible impression on Evelyn Wang \u201900 when she was growing up in Los Angeles. \u201cI was quite young, perhaps in first grade,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I remember we weren\u2019t allowed to turn our sprinklers on. And everyone in the neighborhood was given disinfectant tablets for the toilet and encouraged to keep flushing to a minimum. I didn\u2019t understand exactly what was happening. But I saw that everyone in the community was affected by the scarcity of this resource.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, as extreme weather events increasingly affect communities around the world, Wang is leading MIT\u2019s effort to tackle the interlinked challenges of a changing climate and a burgeoning global demand for energy. Last April, after wrapping up a two-year stint directing the US Department of Energy\u2019s Advanced Research Projects Agency\u2013Energy (ARPA-E), she returned to the campus where she\u2019d been both an undergraduate and a faculty member to become the inaugural vice president for energy and climate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe accelerating problem of climate change and its countless impacts represent the greatest scientific, technical, and policy challenge of this or any age,\u201d MIT President Sally Kornbluth wrote in a January 2025 letter to the MIT community announcing the appointment. \u201cWe are tremendously fortunate that Evelyn Wang has agreed to lead this crucial work.\u201d<\/p>\n

A time to lead<\/h3>\n

MIT has studied and worked on problems of climate and energy for decades. In recent years, with temperatures rising, storms strengthening, and energy demands surging, that work has expanded and intensified, spawning myriad research projects, policy proposals, papers, and startups. The challenges are so urgent that MIT launched several Institute-wide initiatives, including President Rafael Reif\u2019s Climate Grand Challenges<\/a> (2020) and President Kornbluth\u2019s Climate Project <\/a>(2024).\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

But Kornbluth has argued that MIT needs to do even more. Her creation of the new VP-level post that Wang now holds underscores that commitment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wang is well suited for the role. The Ford Professor of Engineering at MIT and former head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, she joined the faculty in 2007, shortly after she completed her PhD at Stanford University. Her research centers on thermal management and energy conversion and storage, but she also works on nano-engineered surfaces and materials, as well as water harvesting and purification. Wang and her colleagues have produced a device based on nanophotonic crystals that could double the efficiency of solar cells\u2014one of MIT Technology Review<\/em>\u2019s 10 breakthrough technologies of 2017. And the device she invented with Nobel laureate Omar Yaghi for extracting water from very dry air was named one of 2017\u2019s top 10 emerging technologies by Scientific American<\/em> and the World Economic Forum, and in 2018 earned her the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water. (See story on this water harvesting research<\/a> in the January\/February issue of MIT Technology Review<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

Wang has a deep knowledge of the Institute\u2014and even deeper roots here. (See \u201cFamily Ties<\/a>,\u201d MIT Alumni News<\/em>, March\/April 2015.) Her parents met at MIT as PhD students from Taiwan in the 1960s; they were married in the MIT chapel. When Wang arrived at MIT in 1996 as a first-year student, her brother Alex \u201996, MEng \u201997, had just graduated and was working on a master\u2019s degree in electrical engineering. Her other brother, Ben, would earn his PhD at MIT in 2007. She even met her husband, Russell Sammon \u201998, at MIT. Apart from her time at ARPA-E, a very brief stint at Bell Labs, and sabbatical work at Google, she has spent her entire professional career at the Institute. So she has a rare perspective on the resources MIT can draw on to respond to the climate and energy challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe beating heart of MIT is innovation,\u201d she says. \u201cWe are innovators. And innovation is something that will help us leapfrog some of the potential hurdles as we work toward climate and energy solutions. Our ability to innovate can enable us to move closer toward energy security, toward sustainable resource development and use.\u201d<\/p>\n

The prevailing innovative mindset at MIT is backed by a deep desire to tackle the problem.Many people on campus are passionate about climate and energy, says Wang. \u201cThat is why President Kornbluth made this her flagship initiative. We are fortunate to have so many talented students and faculty, and to be able to rely on our infrastructure. I know they will all step up to meet the challenges.\u201d But she is quick to point out that the problems are too large for any one entity\u2014including MIT\u2014to address on its own. So she\u2019s aiming to encourage more collaboration both among MIT researchers and with other institutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we want to solve this problem of climate change, if we want to change the trajectory in the next decade, we cannot continue to do business as usual,\u201d she says. \u201cThat is what is most exciting about this problem and, frankly, is why I came back to campus to take this job.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hand in hand<\/h3>\n

The coupling of climate and energy in Wang\u2019s portfolio is strategic. \u201cEnergy and climate are two sides of the same coin,\u201d she explains. \u201cA major reason we are seeing climate change is that we haven\u2019t deployed solutions at a scale necessary to mitigate the CO2<\/sub> emissions from the energy sector. The ways we generate energy and manage emissions are fundamental to any strategy addressing climate change. At the same time, the world demands more and more energy\u2014a demand we can\u2019t possibly meet through a single means.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cZero-emissions and low-carbon approaches will not be enough to supply the necessary energy or to reverse our impact on the climate \u2026 We need to do something truly transformational. That is the heart of the challenge.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What\u2019s more, she contends that switching from fossil fuels to cleaner energy, while fundamental, is only part of the solution. \u201cZero-emissions and low-\u00adcarbon approaches will not be enough to supply the necessary energy or to reverse our impact on the climate,\u201d she says. \u201cWe need to consider the environmental impacts of these new fuels we develop and deploy. We need to use data analysis to move goods and energy more efficiently and intelligently. We need to consider raising more of our food in water and using food by-products and waste to help sequester carbon. In short, we need to do something truly transformational. That is the heart of the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

That challenge seems destined to grow more daunting in the coming years. There are still, Wang observes, areas of \u201cenergy poverty\u201d\u2014places where people cannot access sufficient energy to sustain their well-being. But solving that problem will only drive up energy production and consumption worldwide. The explosive growth of AI will likely do the same, since the huge data centers that power the technology require enormous quantities of energy for both computation and cooling.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wang believes that while AI will continue to drive electricity demand, it can also contribute to creating a more sustainable future.\u201cWe can use AI to develop climate and energy solutions,\u201d she says. \u201cAI can play a primary role in solution sets, can give us new and improved ways to manage intermittent loads in the energy grid. It can help us develop new catalysts and chemicals or help us stabilize the plasma we\u2019ll use in nuclear fusion. It could augment climate and geospatial modeling that would allow us to predict the impact of potential climate solutions before we implement them. We could even use AI to reduce computational needs and thereby ease cooling demand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Change the narrative, change the culture \u00a0<\/h3>\n

MIT was humming with climate and energy research long before Wang returned to campus in 2025 after wrapping up her work at ARPA-E. Almost 400 researchers across 90% of MIT\u2019s departments responded to President Reif\u2019s 2020 Climate Grand Challenges initiative. The Institute awarded $2.7 million to 27 finalist teams and identified five flagship projects<\/a>, including one to create an early warning system to help mitigate the impact of climate disasters, another to predict and prepare for extreme weather events, and an ambitious project to slash nearly half of all industrial carbon emissions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

About 250 MIT faculty and senior researchers are now involved in the Climate Project at MIT, a campus-wide initiative launched in 2024 that works to generate and implement climate solutions, tools, and policy proposals. Conceived to bolster MIT\u2019s already significant efforts as a leading source of technological, behavioral, and policy solutions to global climate issues, the Climate Project has identified six \u201cmissions\u201d: decarbonizing energy and industry; preserving the atmosphere, land, and oceans; empowering frontline community action; designing resilient and prosperous cities; enabling new policy approaches; and wild cards, a catch-all category that supports development of unconventional solutions outside the scope of the other missions. Faculty members direct each mission.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With so much climate research already underway,a large part of Wang\u2019s new role is to support and deepen existing projects. But to fully tap into MIT\u2019s unique capabilities, she says, she\u2019s aiming to foster some cultural shifts. And that begins with identifying ways to facilitate cooperation\u2014both across the Institute and with external partners\u2014on a scale that can make \u201csomething truly transformational\u201d happen, she says. \u201cAt this stage, with the challenges we face in energy and climate, we need to do something ambitious.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

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This solar thermophotovoltaic device Wang\u2019s lab developed with Marin Solja\u010di\u0107 converts solar heat that\u2019s usually wasted into usable light, potentially doubling the efficiency of typical solar cells.<\/figcaption>
COURTESY OF THE RESEARCHERS<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Wang\u2019s group worked with Gang Chen\u2019s lab to develop this highly transparent insulating silica aerogel. It transmits 95% of light, letting sunlight pass through easily as it retains solar heat.<\/figcaption>
COURTESY OF THE RESEARCHERS<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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This prototype of a two-stage water harvesting system developed by the Wang lab and collaborators can draw water from the air at humidity levels as low as 20%, using only sunlight or another source of low-grade heat.<\/figcaption>
ALINA LAPOTIN<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

In Wang\u2019s view, getting big results depends on taking a big-picture, holistic approach that will require unprecedented levels of collaboration. \u201cMIT faculty have always treasured their independence and autonomy,\u201d she says. \u201cTraditionally, we\u2019ve tried to let 1,000 flowers bloom. And traditionally we\u2019ve done that well, often with outstanding results. But climate and energy are systems problems, which means we need to create a systems solution. How do we bring these diverse faculty together? How do we align their efforts, not just in technology, but also in policy, science, finance, and social sciences?\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

To encourage MIT faculty to collaborate across departments, schools, and disciplines, Wang recently announced that the MIT Climate Project would award grants of $50,000 to $250,000 to collaborative faculty teams that work on six- to 24-month climate research projects. Student teams are invited to apply for research grants of up to $15,000.\u201cWe can\u2019t afford to work in silos,\u201d she says. \u201cPeople from wildly diverse fields are working on the same problems and speaking different professional languages. We need to bring people together in an integrative way so we can attack the problem holistically.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wang also wants colleagues to reach beyond campus. MIT, she says, needs to form real, defined partnerships with other universities, as well as with industries, investors, and philanthropists. \u201cThis isn\u2019t just an MIT problem,\u201d she says. \u201cIndividual efforts and 1,000 flowers alone will not be enough to meet these challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thinking holistically\u2014and in terms of systems\u2014will help focus efforts on the areas that will have the greatest impact. At a Climate Project presentation in October, Wang outlined an approach that would focus on building well-being within communities. This will begin with efforts to empower communities by developing coastal resilience, to decarbonize ports and shipping, and to design and build data centers that integrate smoothly and sustainably with nearby communities. She encouraged her colleagues to think in terms of big-picture solutions for the future and then to work on the components needed to build that future.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs researchers, we sometimes jump to a solution before we have fully defined the problem,\u201d she explains. \u201cLet\u2019s take the problem of decarbonization in transportation. The solution we\u2019ve come up with is to electrify our vehicles. When we run up against the problem of the range of these vehicles, our first thought is to create higher-density batteries. But the real problem we\u2019re facing isn\u2019t about batteries. It\u2019s about increasing the range of these vehicles. And the solution to that problem isn\u2019t necessarily a more powerful battery.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cToo often the narrative around climate is steeped in doom and gloom \u2026 The goal of any climate project is to build and protect well-being. How can we help communities thrive, empower people to live as they wish, even as the climate is changing?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Wang is confident that her MIT colleagues have both the capacity and the desire to embrace the holistic approach she envisions. \u201cWhen I was accepted to MIT as an undergraduate and visited the campus, the thing that made me certain I wanted to enroll here was the people,\u201d she recalls. \u201cThey weren\u2019t just talented. They had so many different interests. They were passionate about solving big problems. And they were eager to learn from one another. That spirit hasn\u2019t changed. And that\u2019s the spirit I and my team can tap into.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wang believes MIT and other institutions working on climate and energy solutions also need to change how we talk about the challenge. \u201cToo often the narrative around climate is steeped in doom and gloom,\u201d she says. \u201cThe underlying issue here is our well-being. That\u2019s what we care about, not the climate. The goal of any climate project is to build and protect well-being. How can we help communities thrive, empower people to live as they wish, even as the climate is changing? How can we create conditions of resilience, sustainability, and prosperity? That is the framework I would like us to build on.\u201d For example, in areas where extreme weather threatens homes or rising temperatures are harming human health, we should be developing affordable technologies that make dwellings more resilient and keep people cooler.<\/p>\n

Wang\u2019s colleagues at MIT concur with her assessment of the mission ahead. They also have a deep respect for her scholarship and leadership. \u201cI couldn\u2019t think of a better person to represent MIT\u2019s diverse and powerful ability to attack climate,\u201d says Susan Solomon, the Lee and Geraldine Martin Professor of Environmental Studies at MIT and recipient of the US National Medal of Science for her work on the Antarctic ozone hole. \u201cCommunicating MIT\u2019s capabilities to provide what the nation needs\u2014not only in engineering but also in \u2026 economics, the physical, chemical, and biological sciences, and much more\u2014is an immense challenge.\u201d But she\u2019s confident that Wang will do it justice. \u201cEvelyn is a consummate storyteller,\u201d she says.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s tremendously quick at learning new fields and driving toward what the real nuggets are that need to be addressed in solving hard problems,\u201d says Elsa Olivetti, PhD \u201907, the Jerry McAfee Professor in Engineering and director of the MIT Climate Project\u2019s Decarbonizing Energy and Industry mission. \u201cHer direct, meticulous thinking and leadership style mean that she can focus teams within her office to do the work that will be most impactful at scale.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wang\u2019s experience at ARPA-E is expected to be especially useful. \u201cThe current geopolitical situation and the limited amount of research funding available relative to the scale of the climate problem pose formidable challenges to bringing MIT\u2019s strengths to bear on the problem,\u201d says Rohit Karnik, director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS) and a collaborator with Wang on numerous projects and initiatives since both joined the mechanical engineering faculty in 2007. \u201cEvelyn\u2019s leadership experience at MIT and in government, her ability to take a complex situation and define a clear vision, and her passion to make a difference will serve her well in her new role.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wang\u2019s new MIT appointment is seen as a good thing beyond the Institute as well. \u201cA role like this requires a skill set that is difficult to find in one individual,\u201d says Krista Walton, vice chancellor for research and innovation at North Carolina State University. Walton and Wang collaborated on multiple projects, including the DARPA work that produced the device for extracting water from very dry air based on the original prototype Wang co-developed. \u201cYou need scientific depth, an understanding of the federal and global landscape, a collaborative instinct and the ability to be a convener, and a strategic vision,\u201d Walton says\u2014and she can\u2019t imagine a better pick for the job.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEvelyn has an extraordinary ability to bridge fundamental science with real-world application,\u201d she says. \u201cShe approaches collaboration as a true partnership and not as a transaction.\u201d<\/p>\n

A challenging funding climate\u00a0 \u00a0<\/h3>\n

Climate scientists explore broad swaths of time, tracking trends in temperature, greenhouse gases, volcanic activity, vegetation, and more across hundreds, thousands, and even millions of years. Even average temperatures and precipitation levels are calculated over periods of three decades.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Wang and grad students Jan Luka \u010cas, SM \u201925, and Briana Cuero examine a small test device for a hydrogel-based thermal battery they are developing with fellow PhD student Liliosa Cole.<\/figcaption>
KEN RICHARDSON<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

But in the realm of politics, change happens much faster, prompting sudden and sometimes startling shifts in culture and policy. The current US administration has proposed widespread budget cuts in climate and energy research. These have included slicing more than $1.5 billion from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), canceling multiple climate-related missions at NASA, and shuttering the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), the agency responsible for publishing the National Climate Assessment. The Trump administration submitted a budget request that would cut the National Science Foundation budget from more than $9 billion to just over $4 billion for 2026. The New York Times<\/em> reported that NSF grant funding for STEM education from January through mid-May 2025 was down 80% from its 10-year average, while NSF grant awards for math, physics, chemistry, astronomy, and materials science research were down 67%. In September, the US Department of Energy announced it had terminated 223 projects that \u201cdid not adequately advance the nation\u2019s energy needs, were not economically viable, and would not provide a positive return on investment of taxpayer dollars.\u201d Among the agencies affected is ARPA-E, the agency Wang directed before returning to MIT. Meanwhile, MIT research programs that rely on government sources of funding will also feel the impact of the cuts.<\/p>\n

Acknowledging the difficulties she and MIT may face in the present moment, Wang still prefers to look forward. \u201cOf course this is a challenging time,\u201d she says. \u201cThere are near-term challenges and long-term challenges. We need to focus on those long-term challenges. As President Kornbluth has said, we need to continue to advocate for research and education. We need to pursue long-term solutions, to follow our convictions in addressing problems in energy and climate. And we need to be ready to seize the opportunities that reside in these long-term challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wang also sees openings for short-term collaboration\u2014areas where MIT and the current administration can find common ground and goals. \u201cThere is still a huge area of opportunity for us to align our interests with those of this administration,\u201d she says. \u201cWe can move the needle forward together on energy, on national security, on minerals, on economic competitiveness. All these are interests we share, and there are pathways we can follow to meet these challenges to our nation together. MIT is a major force in the nuclear space, in both fission and fusion. These, along with geothermal, could provide the power base we need to meet our energy demands. There are significant opportunities for partnerships with this or any administration to unlock some of these innovations and implement them.\u201d<\/p>\n

A moonshot factory<\/h3>\n

While she views herself as a researcher and an academic, Wang\u2019s relevant government experience should prove especially useful in her VP role at MIT. In her two years as director of ARPA-E, she coordinated a broad array of the US Department of Energy\u2019s early-stage research and development in energy generation, storage, and use. \u201cI think I had the best job in government,\u201d she says. Designed to operate at arm\u2019s length from the Department of Energy, ARPA-E searches for high-risk, high-reward energy innovation projects. \u201cMore than one observer has called ARPA-E a moonshot factory,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Seeking out and facilitating \u201cmoonshot\u201d-\u00adworthy projects at a national and sometimes global scale gave Wang a broader lens through which to view issues of energy and climate. It also taught her that big ideas do not translate into big solutions automatically. \u201cI learned what it takes to make an impact on energy technology at ARPA-E and I will be forever grateful,\u201d she says. \u201cI saw how game-changing ideas can take a decade to go from concept to deployment. I learned to appreciate the diversity of talent and innovation in the national ecosystem composed of laboratories, startups, and institutions. I saw how that ecosystem could zero in to identify real problems, envision diverse pathways, and create prototypes. And I also saw just how hard that journey is.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Climate and energy research at MIT<\/h3>\n

MIT researchers are tackling climate and energy issues from multiple angles, working on everything from decarbonizing energy and industry to designing resilient and prosperous cities. Find out more at<\/strong> climateproject.mit.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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While MIT is already an important element in that ecosystem, Wang and her colleagues want the Institute to play an even more prominent role. \u201cWe can be a convener and collaborator, first across all of MIT\u2019s departments, and then with industry, the financial world, and governments,\u201d she says. \u201cWe need to do aggressive outreach and find like-minded partners.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough the problems of climate and climate change are global, the most effective way MIT can address them is locally,\u201d said Wang at the October presentation of the MIT Climate Project. \u201cWorking across schools and disciplines, collaborating with external partners, we will develop targeted solutions for individual places and communities\u2014solutions that can then serve as templates for other places and communities.\u201d But she also cautions against one-size-fits-all solutions. \u201cSolar panels, for example, work wonderfully, but only in areas that have sufficient space and sunlight,\u201d she explains. \u201cInstitutions like MIT can showcase a diversity of approaches and determine the best approach for each individual context.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of all, Wang wants her colleagues to be proactive. \u201cBecause MIT is a factory of ideas, perhaps even a moonshot factory, we need to think boldly and continue to think boldly so we can make an impact as soon as possible,\u201d she says. She also wants her colleagues to stay hopeful and not feel daunted by a challenge that can at times feel overwhelming. \u201cWe will build pilots, one at a time, and demonstrate that these projects are not only possible but practical,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd that is how we will build a future everyone wants to live in.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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