Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

The importance of integrating energy justice into chemistry graduate student research and the associated pathways and barriers

Nature Chemistry volume 16, pages 1921–1926 (2024)Cite this article

Subjects

Legacy energy production has generated a climate crisis and left in its wake a history of injustices that have disproportionately impacted marginalized communities. Integrating energy justice into the curricula and research of those who aim to fix this crisis is essential to equip students with the expertise needed to create and implement equitable energy solutions.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Transitioning STEM energy research for energy just future.
Fig. 2: Integrating energy justice in practice.

References

  1. Donaghy, T. Q., Healy, N., Jiang, C. Y. & Battle, C. P. Energy Res. Soc. Sci. 100, 103104 (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Stephens, J. C. MRS Bull. 46, 1205–1209 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. How energy justice, presidential initiatives, and executive orders shape equity at DOE. Office of Energy Justice and Equity https://www.energy.gov/diversity/articles/how-energy-justice-presidential-initiatives-and-executive-orders-shape-equity (2022).

  4. Gifford, S. Changes 6, 1–5 (2022).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Calvao, F., Mcdonald, C. E. A. & Bolay, M. Extr. Ind. Soc. 8, 100884 (2021).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Petrova, M. Here’s why battery manufacturers like Samsung and Panasonic and car makers like Tesla are embracing cobalt-free batteries. CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/17/samsung-panasonic-and-tesla-embracing-cobalt-free-batteries-.html (2021).

  7. Jia, H. et al. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces. 13, 44339–44347 (2021).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Sidortsov, R. Energy Res. Soc. Sci. 1, 171–182 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Sovacool, B. K. et al. Energy Res. Soc. Sci. 6, 95–99 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Bednar, D. J., Reames, T. G. & Keoleian, G. A. Energy Build. 143, 25–34 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Qian, Y., Xu, Z., Gou, X. & Skare, M. Econ. Res.-Ekon. Istrazivanja 36, 2155860 (2023).

    Google Scholar 

  12. Stokols, D. Am. J. Community Psychol. 38, 79–93 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Dutta, N. S. et al. Joule 7, 431–437 (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Uekert, T., Walzberg, J., Wikoff, H. M., Doyle, M. M. & Carpenter, A. C. ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng. 12, 8307–8312 (2024).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. Davenport, C. DeSantis signs law deleting climate change from Florida policy. The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/15/climate/desantis-climate-change-florida.html (2024).

  16. Nottingham, S., Suarez, C. & Ellis, N. T. University of Florida eliminates DEI office to comply with state regulations. CNN https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/01/us/university-florida-shutters-dei-office-reaj/index.html (2024).

  17. National Science Foundation. National Science Foundation Research Traineeship Program. https://new.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/national-science-foundation-research-traineeship (2024).

  18. Nicholls, G. M., Wolfe, H., Besterfield-Sacre, M., Shuman, L. J. & Larpkiattaworn, S. J. Eng. Educ. 96, 33–44 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Magolda, M. B. B. Educ. Res. 22, 32–34 (1993).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Garibay, J. C. J. Res. Sci. Teach. 52, 610–632 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Clean Energy Institute, University of Washington. UW Graduate Students https://www.cei.washington.edu/education/uw-graduate-students/ (2020).

  22. Carnegie Mellon University. University energy institutes in the United States https://www.cmu.edu/energy/_files/images/events/2019/list-of-u.s.-university-energy-institutes.pdf (2020).

  23. McGee, E. & Bentley, L. Am. J. Educ. 124, 1–36 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Walczak, K. et al. Am. Soc. Eng. Educ. 1506, 1–14 (2010).

    Google Scholar 

  25. Knight, J. Soc. Sci. 12, 182 (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Vandaele, M. & Stålhammar, S. Int. J. Sustain. High. Educ. 23, 272–289 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Fritze, J. G., Blashki, G. A., Burke, S. & Wiseman, J. Int. J. Ment. Health Syst. 2, 13 (2008).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  28. Ojala, M. in Geographies of Global Issues: Change and Threat (eds Ansell, N., Klocker, N. & Skelton, T.) 329–346 (Springer, 2016).

  29. Sovacool, B. K. Energy Res. Soc. Sci. 1, 1–29 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Nickerson, T. R. et al. Chem. Sci. 14, 751–770 (2023).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. van Rooij, E., Fokkens-Bruinsma, M. & Jansen, E. Stud. Contin. Educ. 43, 48–67 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Nerad, M. High. Educ. Policy 17, 183–199 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). Accelerating the Pace of Change in Energy Technologies Through an Integrated Federal Energy Policy Report No. 1218979 (EERE, 2010); https://doi.org/10.2172/1218979

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Center for Soft PhotoElectroChemical Systems (SPECS), an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences under award DESC0023411 (CMD); by CU Boulder FY23 Resilient Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity Interdisciplinary Research Theme Summer Seed Grant 1009027-12 (MFT, KB, SRN); a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. DGE 2040434 (LSR), CU Boulder Summer Program for Undergraduate Research program (RK). We thank D. Morton for helping with figures and D. Schwartz and R. Composto for useful discussions.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA

    Casey M. Davis & Ronan Kennedy

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA

    Lacey S. Roberts, Sasha R. Neefe & Michael F. Toney

  3. UCD School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland

    Ronan Kennedy

  4. Department of Environmental Studies Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA

    Karen Bailey

  5. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA

    Karen Bailey, Kyri Baker, Daniel Kaffine & Michael F. Toney

  6. Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA

    Kyri Baker

  7. Department of Economics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA

    Daniel Kaffine

  8. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA

    Michael F. Toney

Authors
  1. Casey M. Davis
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lacey S. Roberts
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sasha R. Neefe
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ronan Kennedy
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Karen Bailey
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Kyri Baker
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Daniel Kaffine
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Michael F. Toney
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael F. Toney.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Peer review

Peer review information

Nature Chemistry thanks Alison Knasin, Kate Anderson and the other, anonymous, reviewer for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Davis, C.M., Roberts, L.S., Neefe, S.R. et al. The importance of integrating energy justice into chemistry graduate student research and the associated pathways and barriers. Nat. Chem. 16, 1921–1926 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-024-01681-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Version of record:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-024-01681-z

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing