Summit Advances Duke Climate Connections and Ideas

The SALA & Duke Climate and Sustainability Summit gathered more than 100 leaders, researchers and advocates to explore bold climate solutions and institutional commitments

Summit attendees explore Grainger Hall at Duke
The SALA & Duke Summit on Climate and Sustainability forged new connections between attendees representing a wide variety of sectors.. Immersive breakout experiences on May 22 included West Campus, Duke Forest, Duke Gardens, Duke Athletics, and the Lemur Center.

Around the dinner tables were athletes, insurance executives, professors, attorneys and nonprofit leaders. They had not met before, but the conversation flowed – showcasing the power of connection. The uniting topic: climate and sustainability.

The SALA & Duke Climate and Sustainability Summit May 21-22 gathered more than 100 leaders, researchers and advocates to explore bold climate solutions and institutional commitments. The summit marked a pivotal moment in Duke’s ongoing Climate Commitment initiative — a university-wide effort to integrate climate action into education, research, operations, external engagement and community partnerships. The summit brought together networks of Duke, SALA Series and Liberty Mutual.

The summit kicked off May 21 with a fireside chat and dinner with two Duke leaders: Nina King, vice president, King-Compton Families Director of Athletics, and Toddi Steelman, vice president and vice provost of climate and sustainability.

Two smiling women sitting on a stage with microphones
Left to right: Vice President, King-Compton Families Director of Athletics Nina King in a fireside chat with Vice President and Vice Provost for Climate and Sustainability Toddi Steelman

King, who rose through the collegiate athletic ranks after beginning as a student manager at Notre Dame, emphasized that while she never played sports competitively, she runs one of the nation’s most successful athletics programs — and one committed to climate and sustainability.

“Climate is a strategic pillar of the university, part of the mission of this university, and Duke Athletics is involved.” King highlighted the new Athletics Climate Team, including more than 40 student-athletes, coaches and staff, to align Duke Athletics with the university’s climate goals.

“From the heat we manage during football games in August to the carbon footprint of travel and events, climate is changing how we operate,” King said. “We’re monitoring air quality and weather patterns in ways we never did before.”

Sustainability Throughout Campus

On May 22, attendees were invited to experience the Duke Reclamation Center, Lemur Center, Duke Gardens, Duke Forest, a West Campus architecture walk, and a Duke Athletics sustainable tour.

Mark Hough, Duke landscape architect, discussed the Duke Reclamation Pond, which is surrounded by 60,000 native plants, and structures built with reclaimed wood, it offers spaces for teaching and research. It’s used for research and a variety of classes from environment to creative writing.  
Mark Hough, Duke landscape architect, discussed the Duke Reclamation Pond, which is surrounded by 60,000 native plants, and structures built with reclaimed wood, it offers spaces for teaching and research. It’s used for research and a variety of classes from environment to creative writing.  
SALA participants visited Duke Gardens to learn how the learning and practices there are promoting sustainability at Duke and in the wider community. Stopping at the Blomquist Garden, Robert Mottern told participants how they can incorporate native plants into home gardens.
SALA participants visited Duke Gardens to learn how the learning and practices there are promoting sustainability at Duke and in the wider community. Stopping at the Blomquist Garden, Robert Mottern, director of horticulture, told participants how they can incorporate native plants into home gardens.
The community knows well recreation opportunities provided by Duke Forest. SALA visitors also learned about how Duke Forest research is documenting climate effects, population changes among plants and fauna, invasive species and timber management, among other fields of study.

The morning breakout experiences on May 22 set the scene for an afternoon of climate-issue discussion.

The discussion featured four panels. Opening the afternoon panels, Steelman outlined climate-related work occurring in every corner of Duke. 

“Our vision is to put climate and sustainability into every aspect of what we do in our education. We aim to create a climate influenced-student body so that every year we graduate into the world 7,000 students who will have some degree of climate fluency regardless of what they go on to do,” she said.

Duke President Vincent Price said the climate challenge “will require unprecedented levels of human cooperation.” 

He noted that Duke launched its climate commitment in 2022 to “advance innovative and sustainable climate solutions through all of our core missions,” not only in education but in external engagement, clinical activities and the health system as well as within the community. 

Conversations and Connections for Climate

Brian Murray, director of the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability at Duke University, introduced the first panel, “Climate Resilience: A Strategic Imperative for Organizations.”

Scott Childress, chief sustainability officer of UPS; Frank Manahan, principal at PwC; and Alison Taylor, climate leader in resilience at Duke University and former chief sustainability officer at Archer Daniels Midland Company, each brought an industry perspective. They discussed the evolving landscape of sustainability, emphasizing the need for companies such as UPS to adapt through innovation, data-driven strategies and robust operations in the face of climate change.

“Not only does your business operation need to be resilient, but your people need to be resilient,” Manahan said.

Three people seated on a stage talking
Left to right: Mark Huang, General Partner and Founder of Longleaf Studios and Gabby Ahmadia, Vice President of Area Based Conservation at World Wildlife Fund U.S. Oceans, in discussion with Director of Duke RESTORE Brian Silliman

The second panel “Reimagining Insurance & Building a Climate Resilient Future” featured a talk with Francis Hyatt, EVP & chief sustainability officer of Liberty Mutual Insurance with Mark Borsuk, professor of civil & environmental engineering at Duke. Hyatt and Borsuk explored how the insurance industry can address the growing unpredictability of climate-related risks.

Lori Bennear, Stanback dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment introduced the third panel “Innovation & Ecosystem Technology.” She emphasized the urgency of collaboration between academia and industry to translate scientific research into real-world effects. One priority is supporting faculty and students — especially Ph.D.s and postdocs — with resources and business training to bridge the gap between innovation and market application. The panel included Gabby Ahmadia, VP Area-Based Conservation of WWF US Oceans; Mark Huang, co-founder & general partner of LongLeaf Studios; and Brian Silliman, director of Duke RESTORE.

“It’s really about trying to match the technology solution to the problem on the ground,” Ahmadia said.

The final panel was “Climate Change & Its Impact on Health” with Elizabeth Biser, president of Biser Strategies & former cabinet secretary, NC Department of Environmental Quality; Avery Davis Lamb, executive director of Creation, Justice Ministries; Valerie Sabol, director, Planetary Health, Office of Global & Community Health Initiatives at Duke University School of Nursing; and Jane Cohen, professor of law at the University of Texas at Austin.

Biser noted how climate change has intensified unexpected disasters in North Carolina, including a hurricane that cut off Asheville's water for over 50 days and disrupted national medical supply chains, revealing the lack of preparedness for such events.

In response, experts across sectors — from health care to faith communities — are developing strategies to address climate-related health risks, from embedding climate awareness in medical training to mobilizing religious groups as hubs for resilience and regeneration.

Avery Lamb called for a gritty, grounded kind of hope: “Hope believes that the world doesn't have to be as it currently is.” 

Rin-rin Yu, Susan Miller, Robin Smith and Melissa Kaye contributed to this story.
Photos by Julie Schoonmaker, Erycka Anderson, Tyler Gibson and Nat Ledonne.