Three core faculty members from the Ralph O’Connor Sustainable Energy Institute brought expertise from Johns Hopkins University to the global stage at New York City Climate Week— which ran from September 21-28 and is billed as the world’s largest climate gathering outside of the UN’s Conference of Parties.

Daniel Kammen (L); Yury Dvorkin (Top-R); Abe Silverman (Bottom-R)

Daniel Kammen, the Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Energy and the Just Energy Transition, Yury Dvorkin, associate professor of civil and systems engineering and electrical and computer engineering, and Abe Silverman, an assistant research scholar for ROSEI, joined prominent panel discussions tackling some of the world’s most pressing energy and climate challenges.

“Having three faculty lending their expertise at one of the biggest climate gatherings in the world shows how much ROSEI and energy at Hopkins has grown over the past few years,” said Ben Schafer, the director of ROSEI. “Their participation highlighted not only the breadth of Hopkins’ research, but also its growing role in shaping real-world strategies for a just and sustainable energy future.”

Kammen’s panel, titled “The Role of Nuclear Energy in Decarbonization & Powering the AI Era,” focused on nuclear energy, specifically cost and deployment trends, safety and public acceptance, supply chains, and policy implications—with a comparative lens across the US, Europe, and China.

“The panel I was on looked at both the promise and the complexity of nuclear power in a rapidly evolving energy landscape,” said Kammen, who is also a professor in the Department of Civil and Systems Engineering, as well as the School of Advanced International Studies. “With the push for net-zero and the explosive growth of AI-driven electricity demand, nuclear is being reexamined not just for its low-carbon benefits, but also for the economic, policy, and geopolitical challenges it raises. The hope is to design solutions that serve both people and the planet”

Dvorkin’s panel, titled “The Promise and Peril of AI: Balancing Innovation, Health Equity, and Climate Responsibility” explored how the health sector can harness the promise of AI while addressing its environmental impacts and implications for health equity.

“AI is opening exciting new doors for innovation in energy, communication, transportation and healthcare, but it has a power problem and with that comes big questions about energy procurement and fairness,” Dvorkin said. “AI is being developed and generates tax revenue in one location, consumes energy and emits carbon and other pollutants in second locations, and is used in third locations. From that viewpoint, we still lack means to coherently evaluate non-economic impacts of AI growth, including on public health. I thought the panel was a great discussion that really focused on making sure that we address all challenges caused by AI growth in a consistent manner and ensure no one is left behind.”

Silverman’s panel, titled “Responsible Community Engagement” was part of “2025 Carbontech Summit”, was co-hosted by Carbontech Development Initiative, in partnership with Activate and the Carbon to Value Initiative. The focus of the panel was successful engagement with communities hosting carbon tech infrastructure being critical to this nascent industry, and panelists discussed lessons in community engagement from other industries and how to translate those lessons into action on carbon tech.

“Building trust and genuine partnerships with communities is essential for any industry in the sustainable energy sector to succeed,” Silverman said. “We can’t just deploy infrastructure—we have to ensure that local voices shape how and where these projects move forward, and the panel did a great job of highlighting that.”

The panels featuring Kammen and Dvorkin can be seen below.

Kammen panel:

Dvorkin panel (starts at 30:30 mark):