Nov 12 2026
Newswise — COP31, the United Nations' annual climate change conference, kicks off today in Turkey with an agenda centered on the transition to clean energy, waste management, and climate-resilient cities. As the world approaches deadlines to limit rising global temperatures and cut greenhouse gas emissions, researchers working at the cutting edge of sustainability science are developing materials, methods, and policies to accelerate progress toward these climate targets. This week's Monday Outlook spotlights UChicago researchers working on the transition away from fossil fuels, sustainable batteries and energy storage, and climate and energy policy, to discuss how their findings can help shape a more sustainable future.
As always, reporters can find scholars on any topic through our Media Resources page, our Academic Communicators Network, and our archive of Monday Outlooks. If you are on deadline and need to speak to someone, contact Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz, director of media relations, at [email protected]. Know someone who should be receiving the Outlook? Share the sign-up link here.
TRANSITION AWAY FROM FOSSIL FUELS
Michael Greenstone is the founding director of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth. Presenting at an upcoming COP31 event, Greenstone can comment on key findings from the Transition Away from Fossil Fuels (TAFF) report, which examines the economic challenges involved in the transition and sets out concrete policy recommendations to accelerate it.
INVESTING IN CLEAN AIR
Christa Hasenkopf is the director of the Clean Air Program at EPIC. Her work focuses on using local air quality data to drive national clean air impacts around the world, including through the Air Quality Fund. Hasenkopf is speaking at an upcoming COP31 event about financing clean air in the Global South and can comment on the importance of investing in clean air around the world.
HUMAN COST OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Genevieve Maricle is executive director of UChicago's Climate Impact Lab. She can discuss the Lab's recent research finding that extreme heat will lead to ten times more deaths in poor countries than in richer ones, and that the most impacted will lack the resources to power the cooling needed to adapt. The research identifies the most impacted regions, pinpointing where immediate actions could offer the greatest opportunity to save lives.
NEXT-GENERATION BATTERIES
Y. Shirley Meng is a professor of molecular engineering with pioneering work in designing better materials for energy storage in batteries. Meng can discuss applications for her research on energy storage materials and systems—including rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles and storage for deep renewable energy penetration—to make daily life more sustainable.
SUSTAINABLE ENERGY STORAGE
Chibueze Amanchukwu is an assistant professor at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and holds a joint appointment at Argonne National Laboratory. He designs electrolytes for long-duration electrical batteries that could make renewable power reliable around the clock. Amanchukwu can discuss his lab's research on new methods of chemical energy storage and how breakthroughs in battery chemistry could speed the shift from fossil fuels.
ORGANIC BATTERY MATERIALS
Shrayesh Patel is an associate professor of molecular engineering and is director of the Center for Organic Battery Innovation. He researches polymers for batteries and energy conversion. Patel can discuss how the Patel Group's work on organic battery materials and polymer design can lead to more sustainable energy storage, including batteries made without scarce metals and plastics that can be reformed and reused.
MATERIALS FOR WATER PURIFICATION
Junhong Chen is a professor of molecular engineering and serves as Lead Water Strategist at Argonne National Laboratory. He researches nanomaterials for water sensing, purification and sustainable energy. Chen can discuss how real-time contaminant sensors, water reuse and AI-driven water strategies can help secure clean water and sustainable water systems.
ECONOMICS OF CLIMATE POLICY
Ryan Kellogg is an energy economist and the faculty director of the MS in Climate and Energy Policy at UChicago's Harris School of Public Policy. Kellogg can discuss how markets and government policies such as carbon taxes and cap and trade programs impact energy supply, as well as key economic and infrastructure considerations for transitioning to a reliable low-carbon energy system.
RETHINKING HOW WE HANDLE WASTE
Sarah Newman is an anthropologist whose research aims to understand how environments are made and lived in, from the past to the present. Author of the book Unmaking Waste: New Histories of Old Things, Newman can discuss what trash says about culture, and her view that sustainability requires a systemic overhaul of how products are designed, valued and dismantled.
THE FOSSIL FUEL ECONOMY
Fredrik Albritton Jonsson is a historian whose work lies at the intersection of environmental history, history of science and technology, and political economy. Author of the forthcoming book, Infinite Coal: How Britain Became the First Fossil Fuel Economy, Jonsson can share the historical context of the world's reliance on fossil fuels, and how that knowledge can inform how we approach sustainable energy moving forward.