Sustainable Systems News | Research News Center

Georgia Tech grad student holding a hollow fiber membrane that can be used for low-energy chemical separation.

July 24, 2026

Georgia Tech Helps Advance Genesis Mission, a National Effort to Transform Scientific Discovery Through AI

3 min read

Institute researchers will lead two projects and contribute to several others as part of the Department of Energy’s $5 billion initiative.

$Side-by-side scientific visualization comparing in-situ photoelasticity and modeled stress field evolution during fracture testing of a transparent material. The left panel shows a rectangular specimen with rainbow-colored stress patterns radiating from a crack tip near the center-right edge, while the right panel shows a corresponding color-coded stress map with blue, green, yellow, and red regions indicating increasing stress concentration around the crack tip. Labels at the top identify the two methods.$

July 24, 2026

Rapid Testing Offers Path to More Sustainable Material Choices

5 min read

At Georgia Tech’s Daedalus Lab, Christos Athanasiou and postdoctoral researcher Danqi Sun are working to provide greater certainty to designers and engineers by rethinking how materials are tested for their fracture characteristics.

Portrait of an individual standing on a paved campus walkway, wearing a light-colored button-down shirt. Trees, landscaped green spaces, and campus buildings appear in the softly blurred background, with daylight illuminating the outdoor scene. The image is framed from the waist up, with the individual centered in the foreground.

June 30, 2026

How AI-Powered Flood Forecasts Could Transform Hurricane Resilience

4 min read

Assistant Professor Ali Sarhadi is using AI and digital twins to predict how and where major storms will cause the most damage.

June 30, 2026

Meet the Expert: Brian An

1 min read

In this EPIcenter Expert series, meet Brian An, EPIcenter Affiliate, studying the intersection of energy resilience and urban policy to improve grid equity during extreme weather.

Georgia Tech's Tech Tower with flowers blooming in the foreground

June 24, 2026

Researchers Discover Membrane-Based Approach to More Sustainable Oil Refining

6 min read

Published in Nature, the researchers' findings suggest that using membranes to separate crude oil before distillation could significantly reduce the energy, water, and carbon footprint of petroleum refining.

June 24, 2026

Bruce Weinelt Joins BBISS as Managing Director

2 min read

Bruce will develop and lead BBISS’s external partnership and fundraising strategy, grounded in the Institute's academic research priorities.

June 11, 2026

Scientist Maps Biodiversity on a Warming Southern Landscape

8 min read

Jenny McGuire is refining tools and partnerships that help protect biodiversity, from Atlanta’s urban canopy to the southern Appalachians.

June 3, 2026

Rising From the Ashes: A Hidden Supply of Critical Elements

4 min read

Georgia Tech researchers turn a widespread waste product into materials that power modern technology.

May 28, 2026

BBISS Appoints Three New Faculty Directors

3 min read

BBISS has expanded its team to include three more faculty members.

Portrait of an individual photographed outdoors, shown from the shoulders up and wearing a dark red top. The background includes a textured stone column, greenery, and part of a building with a window visible behind the subject.

May 27, 2026

Data Centers, Microbes, and the Future of Water Reuse

5 min read

Metro Atlanta has become a magnet for hyperscale data centers and securing enough cooling water with wastewater reuse has unknown public health risks.

Side‑by‑side image showing a portrait photo on the left and a book cover on the right. The left image shows an individual standing outdoors among trees, wearing a dark jacket over a light shirt, while the right image displays the book Human Nature: Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet with bold red title text and illustrated ocean waves and ice formations. The book cover also includes the author name Kate Marvel at the bottom.

May 27, 2026

Clough Lecture Highlights the Human Side of Climate Science

3 min read

The Earth and Atmospheric Sciences 2026 Clough Lecture, co-sponsored by BBISS, featured Kate Marvel, a climate scientist and author.

Aerial view of a large industrial facility with multiple blue cylindrical cooling towers arranged in rows, releasing visible steam into the air. The structures are connected by metal walkways, pipes, and equipment, with a darker building facade behind them. Green grass and patches of standing water are visible in the distance beyond the facility.

May 25, 2026

BBISS Insights Series Reflection: Demystifying Data Centers — Water

3 min read

A recent BBISS seminar focused on the issue of water and data centers, bringing together perspectives from engineering, utilities, and infrastructure planning.

A salt marsh waterway is lined by cord grasses, sand, and trees. The sunny cerulean sky is dotted with clouds.

May 18, 2026

Georgia’s Tomorrow Awarded National Climate Resilience Grant

5 min read

The award is one of ten in a new $3.4 million fund to leverage genetic rescue for marine and coastal ecosystems under threat from climate shifts.

Collage of multiple individual portrait photos arranged in a grid, showing people photographed from the shoulders up in a variety of indoor and outdoor settings. Backgrounds include office spaces, greenery, campus walkways, and neutral studio backdrops, with individuals wearing professional or business‑casual clothing. The images vary in lighting and composition but share a consistent head‑and‑shoulders portrait style.

May 4, 2026

2026 Sustainability Next Seed Grants Awarded

3 min read

This year’s seed grant awards align with the four main thematic areas in which BBISS aims to enhance Georgia Tech’s research to address some of our most pressing sustainability challenges

Left: panelists Cindy Lin, Celine Benoit, Matthew Williams, Ding Wang, and Kahil Bostick. Center: Michael Best and Verghese Jacob. Right: panelists Allen Hyde, Michael Czajkowski, Zachary Hansen, and Donnie Beamer. Not pictured: Peter Hubbard who joined virtually.

April 29, 2026

Workshop Explores Policy Needs as Data Centers Surge in Georgia

3 min read

Georgia Tech hosted an event on April 21 examining the rapid expansion of data centers and the social and policy issues emerging alongside the growth of AI infrastructure.

Vibrant 'Spartina alterniflora' salt marsh grass wraps the oxbow of a tidal waterway. (Credit: Bald Head Island Conservancy)

April 23, 2026

Georgia's Tomorrow and Bald Head Island Conservancy Launch Research Fund, Partnership

4 min read

The Bald Head Island Conservancy and Georgia Tech for Georgia’s Tomorrow are pleased to announce a formal research fund and partnership.

Side‑by‑side comparison graphic showing two hurricane forecast visualizations. The left panel, labeled ‘Conventional Hurricane Map,’ displays a white cone of uncertainty over the Atlantic Ocean and southeastern United States with dated forecast points for Hurricane Florence, while the right panel, labeled ‘Inclusive Hurricane Map,’ shows a red shaded impact corridor over Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina with a storm track line and icons indicating storm categories near cities such as Atlanta, T

April 22, 2026

Communicating During a Crisis

5 min read

The Center for Inclusive Climate Communication (CICC) at Georgia Tech is a new and growing consortium of researchers, organizations, agencies, and companies whose goal is to ensure that climate and disaster information of all types is widely accessible.

AI rendering of the servers inside of a data center

April 21, 2026

Georgia Is Building for an AI Future That May Not Happen

3 min read

The state is spending $16 billion to power data centers that could be obsolete in seven years. Two Georgia Tech researchers say residents will pay for that gamble either way.

A male researcher opens the top of a blue barrel that is part of a composting system inside a greenhouse

April 17, 2026

Doing the Dirty Work of Sustainability

5 min read

A Georgia Tech researcher and his students are using experimental composting to reduce campus food waste and support agriculture.

Aerial view of a datacenter with air conditioner compressor fans on the roof of the building

March 30, 2026

EPIcenter Launches Georgia Data Center Ordinance Hub

2 min read

The Energy Policy and Innovation Center (EPIcenter) at Georgia Tech has launched an interactive tool to help communities navigate the dynamic land-use and policy landscape surrounding data center development: the Georgia Data Center Ordinance Hub.