Background image: Poppies outside UC Berkeley building
Image credit: UC Berkeley

Our mission is to cultivate and connect the UC Berkeley community around solutions for our most urgent planetary challenges.

Why this office exists

As climate change threatens our planet and way of life, we need sustainable and socially just solutions on many fronts. This requires expertise from a variety of fields, and with nearly 400 people working on climate-related activities, UC Berkeley is doing the work to advance climate health.

But this moment, with its complexity and urgency, needs more. It needs collaboration, directed funding, and bold multi-disciplinary research to generate strong policy actions, transformation of economic and production systems, environmental conservation, and accelerated energy transitions. It needs the public and private sectors to work together. It needs the orientation of public service to never been forgotten amidst the drive for innovation and breakthroughs. That is why the Office of the Associate Provost for Energy, Climate & Environment exists.


Transformative research programs

Our office will lead and support an expanded campus network of researchers in energy, climate, and environmental subject areas.

  • SpARC Workshops (Spaces for Accelerated Research Collaborations) bring together campus researchers from diverse fields to problem-solve pressing topics, generate new ideas, and build cross-campus collaborations.
  • Seed Grants create collaborative communities of practice, launch transformative research efforts, and/or support the development of multidisciplinary proposals.
  • Connections for Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiatives will seek to disseminate and scale technological climate solutions in collaboration with campus partners.*
  • Transformational Research Grants will incentivize multidisciplinary collaborations that deliver high impact research with social benefits. *
    *In development

Curricular training & innovation programs

Our office will support Berkeley’s talented student population — many of whom come from marginalized communities directly impacted by climate change and other environmental threats — to become leading scientists, scholars, decision-makers, and industry change-makers.

  • Course Innovation Grants will support and expand multidisciplinary teaching, filling curricular gaps in critical energy, climate & environment topics and methods.*
  • UC Berkeley Chancellor's Climate Futures Fellowships for postdoctoral scholars enhance the relevance, reach, and social benefit of their energy, climate & environment research. The fellowship includes training in policy- and community-engaged methods as well as media training in collaboration with other campus units.
  • Translation of research into equitable and scalable solutions through collaborative community partnerships, policymaker engagement, and multi-media training and storytelling will be developed.*
  • New Academic Structures for Undergraduates will be developed with student services and advising programs across campus departments.*
    * In development

External partnership programs

Our office will elevate Berkeley’s energy, climate & environment impact through robust partnerships with off-campus stakeholders.

  • Joint Research Collaborations with community organizations, government agencies, the private sector, and philanthropic partners will ensure that research turns to action.*
  • The Visiting Fellows Program will allow community leaders, decision-makers, journalists, artists, external scholars, entrepreneurs and others to work directly with faculty and students and engage with the Berkeley community.*
  • Internships and Job Placement Services and Funding will prepare students for today's careers through development of a wide, off-campus network of partners.*
    * In development