In the News - UNC Institute for the Environment

IE partners with the Center for Hybrid Approaches in Solar Energy to engage STEM teachers in learning about chemistry innovations in the energy sector

Fourteen STEM teachers from across North Carolina convened in the Blue Makerspace in Carmichael Residence Hall at UNC-Chapel Hill on April 29 to learn about chemistry innovations in the energy sector from UNC researchers. This workshop was sponsored by IE’s Center … Continued

GENERATE: The Game of Energy Choices – Promoting energy literacy while cultivating systems thinking (NCSTA | Jul/Aug 2021)

The electric grid is the system of power generators, power lines, and other equipment that transports electricity from where it is generated to where it is used. As pointed out by author and cultural anthropologist Gretchen Bakke, “[the grid] is the world’s … Continued

IE energy educators contribute to first-of-its-kind renewable energy education summit

The UNC Institute for the Environment’s role in training the next generation of clean energy professionals is garnering national attention once more. Lindsay Dubbs, co-director of the Outer Banks Field Site, who recently was recognized for her energy education work … Continued

NC Energy Literacy Fellow receives fellowship award to study grid resilience at home and abroad

Denise Renfro, a CTE teacher and Director of the Academy of Green Technology at Douglas Byrd High School in Fayetteville, NC, and participant in the UNC Institute for the Environment’s 2019 NC Energy Literacy Fellows Program, received a Fund For … Continued

Preparing the next generation of energy leaders

The Duke Energy Foundation funds UNC-Chapel Hill programs that prepare future leaders for the energy workforce. Transitioning to a low-carbon economy is not only changing the energy landscape in North Carolina and beyond. It also requires preparing the future … Continued

Phillips selected for 2019 NC Energy Literacy Fellows (The Times-News | June 30, 2019)

Donna Phillips, an eighth-grade science teacher at Woodlawn Middle School, was selected earlier this year to participate in the 2019 N.C. Energy Literacy Fellows Program, yearlong professional development combining hands-on STEM activity, study of relevant careers, and visits to energy … Continued

Eastern N.C. teachers explore animal waste-to-energy trend in their own backyard (EducationNC | June 25, 2019)

“I didn’t know much about this technology even though I live in this county!” exclaimed one teacher as she stepped onto covered swine waste on a Smithfield Farm in Duplin County. This sentiment was felt by a number of teachers … Continued

NC Energy Literacy Fellow leads student team to National KidWind Competition

View slideshow An Onslow County science teacher led a team of students from Dixon High School to a first-place win in the wind energy competition at the North Carolina Renewable Energy Challenge held on April 6, 2019. JD Jorgensen, a … Continued

IE continues to enhance energy literacy among NC students and teachers with grant from Duke Energy

In 2019, the Duke Energy Foundation will continue to support IE’s efforts to promote energy literacy among teachers and students in North Carolina, through a yearlong teacher professional development program and a yearlong science enrichment program for high school students. … Continued

From hog farm to nuclear engineering lab, NC teachers take an energy road trip (EducationNC | July 24, 2018)

Seventeen North Carolina science teachers stood on the flat top of a trash “cell,” a compacted trash mound sealed with soil. In the distance, a line of trucks dumped garbage into a new cell. A handful of gulls flew over … Continued

MEDIA ADVISORY: IE’s Energy Literacy Fellows from across the state to explore the future of the electric grid

The UNC Institute for the Environment (IE) will host seventeen middle and high school teachers from across North Carolina who are enrolled in IE’s Energy Literacy Fellows Program at a professional development workshop July 10-12 that will explore the future … Continued

Teachers examine the future of the electric grid

By Cinnamon Moore Twenty science teachers from across North Carolina gathered at UNC-Chapel Hill from June 20-22 to participate in a workshop that helped them learn about new energy technologies and the future of the U.S. electric grid. The teachers … Continued