Engaged Communities
Amplifying the voices of diverse communities to shape a sustainable future
We envision a world in which the benefits of a sustainable future are available to everyone, and where every individual can take part in shaping that future. UT researchers engage individuals and communities as partners to ensure that our work together is guided by the collective knowledge, interests, and needs of all.
Highlights
TCE Research Leaders Merge Expertise for International Collaboration
A trio of UT research leaders representing expertise in energy and environmental justice, energy resilience, and sustainability are building connections around the globe to collaborate with researchers on renewable energy, green energy, and a better environmental future for all.
Zhou’s New Tech Has Low-Income Housing Covered
Poorly insulated homes are a financial and health burden for many low-income families. UT researchers in engineering, materials science, social work, and architecture are creating innovative ways to inexpensively retrofit homes to save energy and improve indoor conditions.
UT and City of Knoxville Receive $4.3 Million to Plant Trees in Urban Areas
This collaboration between UT and the City of Knoxville will increase tree canopy coverage, reduce stormwater runoff, mitigate extreme heat, and bring ecosystem services to underserved communities in East Knoxville. The project will engage community members and help build the local green infrastructure workforce.
UT Partners with the Bipartisan Policy Center
UT faculty are collaborating with a Washington, DC, think tank to advise on the translation of research to policy decisions related to critical issues including decarbonization, the energy transition, natural resources, and social inequities.
Researchers Map Heat Inequities in Knoxville
UT researchers in social work, geography, and public health teamed up with community members to map urban heat islands, where people are at greater risk of illness and death during extreme heat events. The data can be used to help protect disproportionately affected communities.
Sheldon’s King Coal a New York Times Critics Pick
Elaine McMillion Sheldon’s documentary film King Coal invites viewers into the lives of Appalachian communities that have been shaped for generations by the coal industry—and invites them to see hope and resilience in how the future here can play out. Sheldon is an assistant professor in the School of Art.
Read about the film and link to an interview with its creator.
Our Researchers
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Associate Professor, Social Work
Emerging transportation technologies, electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles, transportation equity, modeling latent travel demand, smart mobility
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Chancellor’s Professor, Distinguished Professor, & Director, UT Humanities Center
Dialogue and commons theory, public humanities and public art, narrative theory, literature/the novel, cross-disciplinary arts aesthetics, energy humanities, environmental humanities, time studies and historiography, electronic media arts, science fiction/speculative arts
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Assistant Professor, Geography & Sustainability
Just transition, energy and environmental justice, labor, gender, race, class, electricity, urban political ecology
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TVA Distinguished Professor of Energy and Environmental Public Policy
Energy markets, the effects of energy policies, energy technology adoption, climate change adaptation, utility decision-making and incentives, critical minerals markets, resource-based economic development, air and water pollution control, sustainable ecosystems for energy and climate solutions