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Berkeley scholars are seeking solutions to existential energy, climate and environmental challenges.<\/p>\nFrom sea level rise adaptations to international microplastics treaties, UC Berkeley researchers are at the forefront of addressing the existential environmental issues of our time. Now, a new appointment is building needed connections between researchers across campus and beyond, strengthening Berkeley\u2019s leadership in tackling the world\u2019s most pressing environmental problems.<\/p>\n
Berkeley scholars are seeking solutions to existential energy, climate and environmental challenges.<\/p>\n
Anastasia Palagutina via Upsplash<\/p>\n
Campus leaders announced today (April 22) that Rachel Morello-Frosh<\/a>, a renowned environmental health scholar, will be the inaugural associate provost for energy, climate, and environment. She begins the position on July 1.<\/p>\n \u201cAn interdisciplinary approach is really going to be critical for having an impact and making real significant breakthroughs in energy, climate and environment,\u201d said Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Benjamin E. Hermalin. \u201cRachel will create horizontal linkages and break through academic silos.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n As a professor in Berkeley\u2019s Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management and the School of Public Health, Morello-Frosch researches the environmental justice impacts of climate change, air pollution and exposure to dangerous chemicals. She is also a current Radcliffe-Salata Climate Justice Fellow at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute.\u00a0<\/p>\n In her new role, announced on Earth Day, Morello-Frosch will create a campus hub for interdisciplinary research and external partnerships to tackle climate challenges. She also will secure external funding, promote community-engaged projects and train scientists to communicate about their work with the general public.\u00a0<\/p>\n Morello-Frosch said she is dedicated to supporting Berkeley faculty and students \u2014 and to ensuring that their work, whether on energy, renewables, entrepreneurial innovation or climate justice, has real-world impacts.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very excited to take on this position because there\u2019s so much transformative, socially beneficial research going on at Berkeley in this realm,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Breaking through academic silos<\/p>\n Morello-Frosch, a Berkeley faculty member since 2007, has witnessed climate-related research growing across the university. Among efforts that have emerged in recent years: the Bakar Labs for Energy and Materials<\/a> are supporting public-private research partnerships to address climate challenges; the Innovative Genomics Institute<\/a> is working to genetically modify cow microbiomes to reduce methane emissions; and the College of Chemistry<\/a> is developing plastics that can decompose in days. Other researchers on campus are developing climate-friendly transportation options<\/a>, finding ways to climate-proof our built environments<\/a> and launching a graduate program<\/a> to train future climate leaders.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rendering by Gensler<\/p>\n Berkeley is a large place with an incredible breadth and pace of research, Morello-Frosch said. One downside? It can be hard for researchers to find the expertise they want to build teams and undertake new projects, even within the Berkeley academic community \u2014 a challenge she intends to address in her new role.<\/p>\n \u201cThis office will have a key role in being a convener,\u201d she said. \u201cWe will help make it easier for people to come together. We will create incentives and platforms for people from different disciplines to have conversations, think about possible collaborations and develop new projects.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Hermalin, that goal is part of what made Morello-Frosch the best choice for this appointment. \u201cRachel has a very compelling vision for what this new role should be doing,\u201d he said. \u201cAdditionally, while she is an amazingly accomplished person in her own research, she\u2019s also very institutionally minded and really cares about Berkeley as a whole. She just has this incredible breadth of knowledge about the campus.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Beyond campus, Morello-Frosch said that one of her long-term goals is building the capacity of Berkeley students and faculty to connect their climate work to policymakers, driving solutions at the local, state, federal and international levels.<\/p>\n In a time of uncertainty in federal funding for the sciences and higher education, one priority of the new office is ensuring that Berkeley continues to have the resources to excel and be recognized globally.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEnergy, climate and the environment remains a very important research area, but with it no longer getting the focus and funding from Washington that it once received, it\u2019s all the more important that we find ways to continue this work going forward,\u201d Hermalin said. To that end, Morello-Frosch also will spearhead fundraising and assist researchers with grantwriting support.<\/p>\n Berkeley takes a seat at the table<\/p>\n In addition to uniting great thinkers across campus, Morello-Frosch\u2019s appointment will give Berkeley a seat at the table during high-stakes conversations with other universities that are addressing similar issues, both across the country and internationally.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing is that other universities have positions similar to this. And what that means is there are convenings of those people to talk about how universities in general are addressing energy, climate and environmental problems,\u201d said Vice Chancellor for Research Kathy Yelick, who led the search for this inaugural position. \u201cWith Rachel as a spokesperson for Berkeley, we can be in those conversations \u2014 and that can help us when we\u2019re looking at partnerships outside of the university, across the country and internationally.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Morello-Frosch stood out, Yelick said, because of her combination of professional skills and her vision for the future of Berkeley.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were looking for somebody who is extremely well-known in their field, who has a reputation of being able to bring people together across campus and build collaborative teams, and who has a vision of where they think that Berkeley can go in this space.\u201d Yelick said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Adam Lau\/Berkeley Engineering<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Bakar-Labs-conceptual-rend-1024x723.jpg\")
The Bakar ClimatEnginuity Hub, expected to open during the 2027-2028 academic year, will support the launch of climate technology companies.<\/p>\n![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20180923_FireWater_AVL_1675_retone-1024x683.jpg\")
Berkeley is uniting researchers across academic disciplines.<\/p>\n