In 2025, changes in federal priorities and a data center-fueled spike in projected electricity demand threw a wrench in U.S. investment in low-carbon technologies and clouded pathways toward sustainability targets.
Despite a murky national picture, the IU Environmental Resilience Institute (ERI) continued to strengthen partnerships with Indiana communities and launch new initiatives to advance sustainability and resilience in the state.
Here are a few highlights:
ERI’s McKinney Climate Fellows passed a milestone in 2025, surpassing 100,000 hours dedicated to advancing sustainability and resilience in the Hoosier State. In partnership with Indiana local governments, businesses, and nonprofits, 35 fellows contributed to a wide range of sustainability projects, spanning community outreach, waste audits, community tree planting plans, and more. To date, more than 250 students and 100-plus host organizations have participated in the program.
Eight communities participated in ERI’s Resilience Cohort program, with tracks focused on developing community-wide tree canopy assessments and spreading awareness of heat pumps.
With the support of McKinney Climate Fellows, Culver, Dearborn County, Goshen and Hammond identified high-priority tree planting areas, developed community-wide plans, and planted 100 trees each as part of the urban green infrastructure track of the Resilience Cohort program.
Meanwhile, Evansville, Lafayette, Indianapolis and South Bend engaged residents and local contractors on the benefits of heat pump technology and co-hosted contractor training summits in collaboration with the Midwest Heating and Cooling Collaborative. Heat pump accelerator communities also selected nonprofit organizations for demonstration heat pump installations, which will provide data on heat pumps’ impact on building efficiencies and utility costs.
(Top) ERI Executive Director Gabriel Filippelli addresses the audience during the 2025 Indiana Sustainability and Resilience Conference. (Bottom left) Members of the Community Resilience Hub Incubator and Indiana Resilience Funding Hub teams worked with rural communities to identify funding opportunities and develop resilience projects. (Bottom right) 2025 McKinney Climate Fellow Bronwyn Meldrum holds up a flyer advertising the benefits of switching to heat pumps.
In its first full year, the FARMWISE Indiana team took the state by storm, meeting with more than 200 supply chain partners and attending more than 100 stakeholder events. The barnstorming set the stage for dozens of new relationships between local producers and institutional buyers, including K-12 schools.
A few of these connections were captured in an October 2025 feature story highlighting the impact of FARMWISE Indiana on Northeast Indiana farmers’ bottom lines and local schools’ food quality.
To help Indiana local governments navigate the process of converting brownfields into solar installations, ERI teamed up with technical experts and state agencies to host a three-part webinar series. The webinars walked attendees through the process of a successful transformation and connected local government staff to free technical assistance as well as opportunities to apply for state and federal remediation funding.
ERI also hosted a series of webinars this year on timely climate and environmental subjects to keep Hoosiers informed on trends and opportunities. Topics ranged from extreme weather trends in Indiana to community heat preparedness to the environmental impacts of AI. Webinar recordings are available on ERI’s YouTube channel.
To give Hoosiers updated snapshot of the far-reaching impacts of climate change, ERI revived a collaborative effort to apply the best available climate research toward questions relevant to Indiana residents' lives and livelihoods.
The project builds on the original Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment (INNCIA), led by Purdue University, with a goal of delivering an initial report in 2028. INCCIA reports have been widely used by researchers, policymakers, and communities across the state and have contributed to a number of other studies and tools.
Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute brings together a broad coalition of government, business, nonprofit, and community leaders to help Indiana and the Midwest better prepare for the challenges of environmental change. By integrating research, education, and community, ERI is working to create a more sustainable, equitable, and prosperous future. Learn more at eri.iu.edu.
