Institute for Energy and Environment

Engaged Communities

Amplifying many voices to shape a sustainable future 

A student in shadow looks at a map showing energy needs across the United States in CURENT's Visualization Lab.
US Capitol building at night, courtesy of Darren Halstead on Unsplash.
A group of UT faculty sit around two long tables during a meeting at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, DC.

Clean air and water, fresh food, energy-efficient housing, cost-effective transportation, and outdoor recreation are not equally accessible. We envision a world in which everyone has opportunities to help shape a sustainable future—and experience its benefits. UT researchers engage individuals and communities as partners, ensuring that our work together is guided by the knowledge, priorities, and needs of all.

A group of students collect specimens in a shallow creek and its banks.

UT’s Approach

Our approach to innovation at the intersection of energy and environment relies on a deep commitment to community and the assurance that our approaches are sustainable. In this area, for example, we are working with communities across the state to create a space for Tennesseans to tell their stories, and together with UT’s energy and environmental humanities initiative, we are working together to secure a sustainable future for our natural resources. This approach has guided the Tennessee RiverLine initiative, strengthening connectivity throughout river communities across the state.  

Multiple UT research centers enable community-engaged research. Researchers with the Institute for a Secure and Sustainable Environment and the Center for Ultra-Wide-Area Resilient Electric Energy Transmission Networks examine geographical, technical, and policy factors that influence energy burden and energy access. Other researchers are improving microgrids that facilitate increased renewables and grid resilience in rural areas.      

“UT is in a unique position to bring together world-class research, workforce development, community engagement, and partnerships with industry.”

—Kevin Heaslip, director of UT’s Center for Transportation Research

Testing materials samples using a 3MV tandem accelerator with multiple beamlines and stations in the Ion Beam Materials Laboratory (IBML) inside Senter Hall at the University of Tennessee.
Jonathan Yoder, 3rd year biosystems engineering grad student, and Ahmad Amirirojdanr, 3rd year biosystems engineering grad student, work with an agrovoltaic system outside the Smart Agriculture Lab in the Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science building at the University of Tennessee.
A detail image of vials being tested in the Bioenergy and Biofuels Lab on the Ag campus at the University of Tennessee.
Undergrad students work on community engagement research in the Grid Control and Visualization Lab inside the Min H. Kao Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Building at the University of Tennessee.
Using a transmission scanning microscope in the Ion Beam Materials Laboratory (IBML) inside Senter Hall at the University of Tennessee.

Highlights

Arial photo of Ayers Hall on the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, campus.

UT Wins Funding for Green Jobs Initiative

UT has been awarded a $750,000 grant for East Tennessee Works, a regional green jobs initiative led by the university and focused on Knoxville’s inner-city and rural Southern Appalachian communities. 

Learn more about this grant

Nick Zhou

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.

Read about this multidisciplinary innovation. 

EXCET Researchers Chien-fei Chen, Mingzhou Jin and Kevin Tomsovic

Research Leaders Merge Expertise for International Collaboration

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.

Learn more about this international collaboration.

Tickle College of Engineering on UT's Knoxville Campus

UT Partners to Bring Nuclear Education to K-2 Students

The Tickle College of Engineering is part of a groundbreaking statewide initiative to introduce nuclear energy concepts to students in kindergarten through second grade through the first program of its kind in the United States. Elementary teachers statewide will be trained to deliver age-appropriate lessons that introduce young learners to key energy concepts, aiming to demystify nuclear power, inspire curiosity about science and technology, and establish a foundation for future careers in clean energy.

Learn more about the initiative.

Overhead view of a solar panel farm.

Facilities & Initiatives

Our work occurs in labs, through dialogue, and out in communities. Research emerges from and informs new investigations by recognizing the interplay between disciplines across UT. 

A student uses a computer in CURENT's Visualization Lab.

Researchers

  • Courtney Cronley.

    Courtney Cronley

    Associate Professor, Social Work

    Emerging transportation technologies, electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles, modeling latent travel demand, smart mobility

  • Amy Elias.

    Amy Elias

    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

  • Charles Sims.

    Charles Sims

    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

See all engageD Communities Faculty