Each year, the Graham Sustainability Institute hosts a cohort of graduate students for the competitive Dow Sustainability Fellows Program. Through experiential, collaborative projects with partners around the world, Dow Fellows tackle a wide range of sustainability challenges head-on.
On Saturday, December 2, 2023, the seven teams comprising the 2023 cohort gathered in Palmer Commons to present their findings on solar energy, efficient housing, decarbonization funding access, and more.
Team 1’s project, titled “Analyzing Farmland for Solar Potential,” partnered with the Climate Reality Project chapter in Washtenaw County to advance their solar development goals. Through community engagement, geospatial analysis, and financial modeling, the team informed the integration of solar into the county’s energy grid by providing information for potential solar sites on nearby farmland.
Team 2 worked with Elevate Energy—a non-profit focused on climate equity—to develop plans for energy-equity implementation in southeast Michigan. The team produced a comprehensive analysis of existing climate resilience plans as well as a guide for cities to create new or updated plans for defining and mitigating climate emergencies.
Team 3 collaborated with 3R Sustainability in Pittsburgh to produce design solutions for a safer transportation experience in Pittsburgh’s bustling Strip District. They created various maps and drawn visualizations and interviewed citizens to provide information about issues of safety and mobility across the neighborhood, providing officials with clear pathways to urban planning improvements.
Team 4 partnered with Ripples Ghana, an organization that provides economic and social support to women in rural Ghana. The organization supports over 7,000 women who harvest and produce shea butter, which comes with a unique set of environmental waste challenges. Team 4 produced a well-researched guide to a variety of potential solution avenues for the organization to effectively dispose of and reuse shea butter waste.
Team 5 evaluated a sustainable wheat program in Saginaw Bay, MI—home to the Star of the West Milling Company—in partnership with The Nature Conservancy. The team interviewed stakeholders, created a market analysis, and curated strategic recommendations to inform The Nature Conservancy's sustainable wheat standards program.
Team 6’s “Energy Efficient Housing as a Healthcare Intervention” partnered with Habitat for Humanity International to utilize geospatial data to expand equity, sustainability, and affordability in housing. They produced a publicly accessible web map of climate indicators and developed health housing building strategies to inform future Habitat for Humanity projects.
Last but not least, Team 7 worked with Lawyers for Good Government to help mitigate barriers for disadvantaged communities’ access to federal climate resilience funding. After identifying and analyzing existing information gaps, the team created thorough fact sheets and held a webinar to provide potential funding recipients with a better understanding of their options.
All of these teams produced meaningful sustainability work across a variety of sectors. We are so proud of all their efforts and cannot wait to see what they do next!
To learn more about the Dow Fellows program and these impactful research projects, visit https://graham.umich.edu/dow.