The MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative closes after 11 years
The initiative’s programs will be redistributed across different units in the Institute
In May, Director of the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative (ESI) Professor John Fernández ’85 announced that the initiative would close at the end of the spring semester. As of June 2025, the programs in ESI are being redistributed across different units in the Institute, including the School of Architecture and Planning as well as the Climate Project. A celebration to commemorate the legacy of the ESI was held on May 28.
“I have poured my heart and soul into an organization that I believe was simultaneously ahead of its time and long overdue at MIT,” Fernández wrote in a statement to The Tech. “In fact, the reality of the ESI reflects the broader and sobering reality of environmental priorities in the larger world — we are (as a civilization) far behind where we should be in addressing a wide range of environmental challenges, but the mechanisms for doing so are ahead of our current time which is dominated by an extraction economy that singularly and zealously guards financial gains.”
Fernández clarified that the closure of the ESI was not related to federal or Institute funding cuts. The decision was made after many discussions with a group of MIT faculty members, along with the Vice President of Research (VPR), which began more than two years ago when Fernández considered stepping down. According to Fernández, the discussion identified the need for “simplifying the landscape” at MIT for several reasons, including “administrative resources” and “clarity of mission,” in response to the formation of many environment and sustainability units after the creation of ESI.
The ESI was founded in 2014 as a campus-wide initiative to solve various environmental issues through interdisciplinary research. ESI projects were divided into three areas: research, education, and engagement. Within the Institute, the ESI advised undergraduate climate and sustainability groups and collaborated with other MIT units such as the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) and the Office of Sustainability. Prof. Susan Solomon was the first director, while Fernández was the director from the fall of 2015 until its closure.
The initiative developed six research programs that each addressed different aspects of climate change and the environment, from Climate Justice to Mining and the Circular Economy (MCE). The research projects resulted in collaborations with national and international partners from various sectors, such as the World Resources Institute and the Inter-American Development Bank. The ESI has also provided research opportunities for students through UROPs, the Martin Fellowship, and the Rapid Response Group (RRG). Furthermore, the ESI’s research seed grant program has funded research proposals in various domains, from sustainable cities to plastic pollution.
Besides contributions to environmental research, the ESI also founded the environment and sustainability (E&S) minor. In the minor, students take five to six subjects and fulfill three requirements, one of which is taking one subject in each of the two core areas of study — Context and Perspective and Sustainable Solutions. For elective subjects, students could choose from over 110 classes in 17 different departments. According to Education Program Director Chris Rabe, the E&S minor program will continue under the MIT Climate Project office and current students will be unaffected.
Solomon felt “deeply honored” to be the founding director of the ESI because the initiative started “a new thrust in sustainability education at MIT” and encouraged people from all across the MIT community to solve “cross-cutting environmental issues.” Solomon commended Fernández’s leadership as director for the past ten years, stating that “its current scope reflects his exceptional leadership.”
Eli Brooks ’22, an E&S minor, was disappointed to learn about the closure of the initiative. “As one of the most innovative and forward-thinking universities in the world, it is baffling to be closing such a department whose sole purpose was to give some of the most brilliant young minds the tools and knowledge to help improve this Earth,” Brooks wrote in a statement to The Tech. He appreciated the ESI for encouraging students to consider their future work’s impact on the environment and sustainability, regardless of the field they would ultimately pursue.
Swochchhanda Shrestha ’21, an E&S minor who now works on EV batteries at General Motors, found the ESI to be an important part of his academic experience at MIT. Shrestha praised its class offerings because of its “holistic view of environmental topics” in areas such as engineering and social science.
“I hope that the spirit of ESI, especially the emphasis on taking classes across different courses to get a better understanding of interesting topics, continues to live on in some way at MIT,” Shrestha wrote. “The guidance and framework for getting more involved in environmental studies will certainly be missed by incoming classes in future years.