The sugar maple grove behind Dartmouth’s observatory has been tracking climate shifts for decades, its annual sap flow data now part of a research network that spans continents. This winter, two College faculty members will help translate such local observations into global climate policy recommendations.
Professors Sarah Chen from Earth Sciences and Michael Torres from the Thayer School of Engineering have been selected to serve on advisory panels for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Their appointments represent the first time Dartmouth faculty have held formal positions within the international climate policy structure.
Chen, whose research focuses on Arctic permafrost dynamics, will join the technical advisory group examining carbon storage systems. Torres, who studies renewable energy grid integration, has been named to the panel reviewing clean technology implementation in developing nations. Both appointments run through 2027.
“The science we’re doing here in New Hampshire directly connects to what’s happening globally,” Chen said during a recent interview in her Fairchild Hall laboratory. “When we measure methane emissions from wetlands in the Connecticut River watershed, we’re seeing the same processes that are accelerating across northern latitudes worldwide.”
Their selection comes as Dartmouth has expanded its climate research footprint significantly over the past five years. The College now operates monitoring stations from the White Mountains to Greenland, generating data that informs both regional planning and international climate models.
Torres noted that his work on microgrid systems in Upper Valley communities has provided insights applicable to rural electrification projects across Africa and Southeast Asia. His team has helped design renewable energy systems for three local towns, including a solar-battery project in Lyme that now serves as a model for similar installations in developing regions.
“The challenges we solve for a Vermont town of 2,000 people often scale directly to villages in Kenya or Bangladesh,” Torres explained. “Rural energy access has universal principles, whether you’re dealing with winter heating in New England or irrigation pumps in sub-Saharan Africa.”
The faculty appointments reflect broader trends in climate policy development, where local expertise increasingly informs global strategies. Chen’s permafrost research, conducted partly in collaboration with Dartmouth’s Cold Regions Research laboratory, has documented how warming temperatures affect carbon release patterns in ways that weren’t fully understood even five years ago.
Her field sites include locations throughout northern New Hampshire, where she has measured soil temperature changes that mirror patterns observed in Alaska and Siberia. This local-to-global perspective will be crucial as international negotiators work to update carbon accounting methods under the Paris Climate Agreement.
The advisory roles also connect to Dartmouth’s growing emphasis on sustainability education across disciplines. Both professors teach courses that blend technical training with policy analysis, preparing students to work at the intersection of science and governance.
Recent campus news has highlighted how various departments are integrating climate considerations into their curricula, from economics courses examining carbon pricing to anthropology classes studying climate adaptation in indigenous communities.
Chen and Torres will participate in their first formal advisory sessions this spring, when the UN panels review draft recommendations for the next Conference of the Parties climate summit. Their input will help shape technical guidelines that influence how nearly 200 countries measure progress toward emission reduction goals.
For Chen, the opportunity represents a natural extension of research that has always carried policy implications. Her studies of permafrost thaw have informed state-level climate adaptation planning throughout northern New England, work that now scales to international discussions about carbon cycle feedbacks.
“We’re at a point where the local and global are inseparable,” she said. “The changes we document in our backyard watersheds are part of the same system that determines whether small island nations remain habitable.”
The appointments also position Dartmouth as a growing hub for climate policy research. College administrators have indicated that additional faculty may be nominated for international advisory roles as the UN system expands its technical review capacity ahead of critical climate negotiations scheduled for 2026 and 2027.
Torres emphasized that the advisory work will directly benefit his Dartmouth research and teaching. Exposure to energy challenges across different global contexts will inform his Upper Valley projects, creating a feedback loop between international policy development and local sustainability solutions.
Both professors plan to involve Dartmouth students in their advisory work through research assistantships and policy analysis projects, ensuring that the College’s contribution to global climate governance extends beyond individual faculty expertise to include the next generation of climate professionals.
