2024 Letter from the BBISS Interim Director, Beril Toktay
I would like to take a moment to express how grateful I am to be working with and alongside all of you. Your work - whether you are studying the impacts of global warming on earth systems, developing innovative sustainable materials and technologies, building cyber-physical systems to enable citizen science, investigating sustainable investment mechanisms, researching the societal impacts of climate change and equitable sustainability transitions, designing climate-resilient urban infrastructure, or inspiring the next generation to tackle environmental and social sustainability challenges - is absolutely essential to our planet and our society, and it resonates far beyond Georgia Tech.
At the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems (BBISS), it is our privilege to do our very best to maximize your collective impact and support Georgia Tech in achieving its ambitious 2023-2030 Sustainability Next vision.
With the “sustainable systems” hat on, we aim to lead in some areas and be a good partner in others. Our primary focus areas are climate adaptation and resilience, ecosystem and environmental health, sustainable and resilient cities and infrastructure, and sustainable food systems. We have a strong emphasis on community-engaged research, advanced in partnership with the Center for Sustainable Communities Research and Education (SCoRE) and the Institute for People and Technology (IPAT).
We are proud to work closely with our partners – SEI, RBI, IDEaS, ACSB, EPICenter, CETL, GTRI, Office of Sustainability – in climate mitigation, circular economy, AI/ML for sustainability, education for sustainable development, and the living campus initiative.
Reflecting on Our Accomplishments
This past year has been one of collaboration, impact, and growth. We welcomed Interim Associate Co- Directors for Interdisciplinary Research Ameet Pinto and Yuanzhi Tang to our leadership team. They are collaborating to design and implement strategies that accelerate interdisciplinary collaboration, with an emphasis on incubating and launching new centers and initiatives.
Our Community-Engaged Research leadership team, Nicole Kennard and Josiah Hester, have collaborated with MS student Aby Kottoor to design an online platform that displays community-engaged researchers, community partners, and their collaborative projects. This platform will connect community members to faculty in meaningful and sustainable ways, fostering new relationships and ensuring they can thrive into the future.
BBISS has strengthened Georgia Tech’s research network through targeted and impactful seed funding combining Sustainability Next funding, BBISS funding, and partner contributions. These grants have benefited 93 faculty in all Colleges as well as researchers in GTRI, GTPE, IRIs, CEISMC, the Library, and the Office of Research Integrity.
We aim to be an incubator of interdisciplinary new centers and initiatives, dedicating a portion of our annual endowment returns to this purpose. Centers and initiatives we have invested in include the Center for Critical Energy Mineral Solutions (PI: Yuanzhi Tang), the US-Africa Research Center for Clean Energy (PI: Valerie Thomas), the Center for Inclusive Climate Communications (PI: Bruce Walker), and the nascent initiative to Preserve Georgia’s Biodiversity (PI: Jenny McGuire).
BBISS continues to strengthen its national lab partnerships through a Southeastern Climate Mitigation initiative with Oak Ridge National Labs (in partnership with SEI) and its community partnerships through the work of the Center for Sustainable Communities Research and Education (SCoRE).
Engaging local communities as equal partners, SCoRE has made impressive strides in obtaining large federal awards (one awarded and one in negotiations) and is now spearheading the development and execution of the Community Benefits Plan for the Southeast Direct Air Capture Hub. Programs like the Faculty Fellows, Sustainable Communities Summer Internship and RCE Greater Atlanta bring these partnerships to life, giving faculty and students invaluable opportunities to advance their work while simultaneously advancing the needs of Atlanta’s historically marginalized communities.
Educating and inspiring early-stage researchers has remained a central focus of BBISS. Our Graduate Fellows Program is the prime example of our dedication to interdisciplinary training. Jennifer Leavey, in her role as Associate Director for Interdisciplinary Education, is working to design and implement strategies that accelerate sustainability education research and create opportunities for undergraduate student engagement in sustainability research.
We have made our faculty thought leadership more visible by commissioning articles (see here and here), curating more pieces with The Conversation, and growing our social media presence on LinkedIn and YouTube. Engagement with these platforms has grown exponentially thanks to Brent Verrill’s excellent work.
Behind the scenes, Gay Burchfield, Susan Ryan, and Trisha Sisk have worked tirelessly to ensure we put on high-quality events and keep the administrative side of BBISS running smoothly. I am grateful to the entire team for bringing their best selves to work every day!
Envisioning Our Future
Looking ahead, we will focus our 2025 Sustainability Showcase on Climate Adaptation and Resilience, as a launchpad for a GT-wide initiative combining our strengths in resilient infrastructure, urban resilience, coastal resilience, and environmental health. We will also launch an initiative at the intersection of artificial intelligence and sustainability, exploring topics like AI-driven tools for community-based climate adaptation and sustainability efforts.
To support principal investigators (PIs) across Georgia Tech in team identification and proposal submission, we will be hiring a proposal development lead. We are partnering with the Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business’s Drawdown Georgia Business Compact to expand industry connections available to BBISS-affiliated faculty. Globally, we are supporting faculty in establishing new partnerships in South America, Africa, and Asia. We are also reimagining our interdisciplinary Graduate Fellows Program and creating new opportunities for undergraduate sustainability research. Finally, we are excited to partner with Sustain-X to help make Atlanta a hub for climate tech and sustainability entrepreneurship.
The Road Ahead: Alumni Support in Transforming Tomorrow
It is alumni support that has enabled BBISS to exist and flourish. As we embrace a new phase of growth, we are counting on your ever-growing support and partnership through Georgia Tech’s Transforming Tomorrow Campaign. The work that we do matters greatly. Your contributions to BBISS, and to our affiliated centers and partners, will allow us to greatly accelerate our collective impact.
With heartfelt gratitude,
L. Beril Toktay
Regents’ Professor and Brady Family Chairholder, Scheller College of Business
Interim Executive Director, Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems
Please encourage relevant colleagues and students to join the BBISS community by signing up for the BBISS newsletter.
