Faculty at the UC Berkeley School of Information are launching IceBerk, a multidisciplinary lab focused on using informatics for climate empowerment. Specifically, the lab is interested in understanding the information needs and behaviors of those confronting the effects of climate change, developing information tools to support their efforts, and training the next generation of information leaders to bring about a more sustainable and just climate future.
Professor John Chuang founded the lab and Professors Joshua Blumenstock and Kimiko Ryokai have joined the effort. The lab also includes Ph.D. students from the School of Information, recent Master of Information Management and Systems graduates, and visiting student researchers.
“In typical I School fashion, we bring together a group of faculty and students with perspectives from design research, machine learning, sustainable development, etc., so that we can learn from one another and pursue research problems that may benefit from multidisciplinary solutions,” said Professor Chuang. “There are climate and sustainability problems to tackle everywhere we look. …I believe the climate tech industry is going to grow exponentially in the coming years, and there will be a huge demand for workers who can apply their informatics skills to climate problems.”
The team is currently working on a few projects, designing and developing tools to empower individuals and communities in diverse climate action settings.
Professor Chuang teaches a course called Climate, People, and Informatics that explores the burgeoning field of climate informatics and equips students with the necessary language and contextual knowledge to contribute. Chuang, Ph.D. student Ando Shah, and Zoya Abdullah (MIMS ’24), in collaboration with the Open Earth Foundation, are using a technology probe to engage sustainability managers working to adopt carbon pricing for their organizations.
Shah is simultaneously building tools to track illegal sand mining with Professor Blumenstock and labmate Suraj Nair. Associate Professor Ryokai, on the other hand, is working with Ph.D. student Yangyang Yang on a project that utilizes mobile augmented reality to help people experience Berkeley’s natural environment and its history from the perspective of Strawberry Creek.
Through these projects, Professor Chuang and members of IceBerk hope to broaden the scope of the field to serve not just scientists and policymakers, but also citizens from all parts of the world, other living things, and ecosystems.
“Many people feel powerless in the face of powerful vested interests and think their actions will not make any difference. In reality, there are many opportunities where individual action can have a significant impact, especially for adaptation and coordination in the local context. By providing individuals and communities with accurate, timely, and actionable information, they can be empowered to take actions that impact their lives tangibly,” Chuang said.
“The School of Information, with its strengths in technology, design, policy, and social sciences, has much to offer in tackling these challenges…In the coming years, I hope more faculty and students will join us and add their expertise to this effort.”
