Annual Meeting 2026

Keynote: Damon Centola

10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

If you work on environmental challenges, you almost certainly collaborate on teams – working across disciplines, sectors, and more. But what makes some teams more innovative than others? What makes teams… smart? 

In his new book Goodthink (MIT Press), Damon Centola reveals the surprising new science of collective intelligence. Busting the myth of “groupthink,” Centola's latest work shows how to build teams, design online platforms, and create spaces and structures that both sharpen our thinking individually and align our intelligence successfully. The secret, it turns out, is in the shape of our networks.

A 2026 Guggenheim Fellow, Centola is the Elihu Katz Professor of Communication, Sociology and Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is also director of the Network Dynamics Group and a senior fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics. His influential research centers on social networks and behavior change, and he is the author of two previous books: How Behavior Spreads: The Science of Complex Contagions (Princeton University Press, 2018), and Change: How to Make Big Things Happen (Little Brown, Spark, 2021).

Can’t wait? Neither can we: Hear from Damon about social contagion on the Hidden Brain podcast.

Lunch and Conversation

12:00 – 12:50 p.m.

The annual meeting brings together discipline-spanning, collaboration-oriented people working on environment and sustainability issues. Over the years, we’ve seen connections made at the meeting spark long-term and fruitful collaborations.

During the lunch hour there will be opportunities to connect with others who share similar interests, in addition to open seating and resource tables to learn more about IonE programs, like the two-year IonE Associates cohort.

Fireside Chat with University of Minnesota Duluth Chancellor Charles Nies and Jessica Hellmann

12:50 – 1:30 p.m.

University of Minnesota Duluth Chancellor Charles Nies will be joining us for a special “fireside” style chat with Jessica Hellmann, IonE executive director.

Chancellor Nies joined the University in summer of 2024. Since beginning at UMD, Nies has co-chaired the University’s statewide strategic roadmap committee and led the Duluth campus through collaborative visioning to elevate the work of faculty, staff, and students.

Nies and Hellmann will discuss building stronger pathways for sharing knowledge, research, and sustainability initiatives across the University – and how our new strategic road map can serve as a catalyst for collective action across our institutions.

Strategic Dialogues

1:50 – 2:50 p.m.

As a gathering of the broader IonE network, the annual meeting is an opportunity to dialogue about opportunities, identify common interests, and make serendipitous connections. During our first block of breakouts, we’ll have interactive opportunities to gather around timely topics aligned with the University’s Elevate Extraordinary strategic roadmap and the IonE strategic plan, such as freshwater, cold-climate clean energy, and biodiversity. In another session, we'll also hear from a small group of Impact Goals funded project teams. In each session, University colleagues and/or partners will share recent work and invite discussion with meeting attendees.

Community Talks

3:20 – 4:20 p.m.

IonE community talks are 7–8 minute “lightning” style presentations from University faculty and staff, as well as project partners and program collaborators. Past talks have ranged from success stories and project updates to new lines of inquiry and professional milestones. Discover what your colleagues have been up to in the past year! This year’s talks will run in four concurrent rooms.

• Afton Clarke-Sather, associate professor of environment, sustainability & geography, Kathryn Haglin, associate professor of political science: "Public opinion towards wolves and cervids in Minnesota"
• Andrew Mwape, climate action project assistant at UMN Office of Sustainability: "UMN Carbon Offsets - Pilot 2030"
• Andrew Wickert, associate professor of Earth and environmental sciences: "A century later, Minnesota rivers are still digging out from the sediment blizzard"
• Bonnie Keeler, director of the Water Resources Center: "MN Water 2100: Long-range planning for Minnesota water resources"
• Chip Small, professor of biology and Earth, environment and society: "Optimizing ecosystem services from urban agriculture"
• Dan Keefe, professor of computer science and engineering: "Painting and sculpting mixed reality data visualizations"
• James Coleman, professor of law: "Big Loads, Big Decisions: The legal landscape for data centers"
• Lin Xiu, professor of human resource management: "Sustaining People at Work: From paid leave to leadership to AI"
• Madisen Gittlin, IonE postdoctoral fellow: "The potential for food rescue carbon offsets to address food insecurity and carbon emissions in Minnesota"
• Mary Kosuth, IonE postdoctoral fellow: "Do No Harm: Single-use plastics in healthcare" 
• Melissa Pastore, research ecologist at USDA Forest Service: "U.S. nationwide soil monitoring program"
• Natasha Wright, assistant professor of mechanical engineering: "One Mango, Multiple Markets: Navigating processing, certification, and value"
• Susanna Gibbons, managing director of Funds Enterprise: "GRASFI: Global Research Alliance for Sustainable Finance and Investing" 
• Weiguo Xie, professor of chemical engineering: "My research interests"
• Yao-Yi Chiang, associate professor of computer science and engineering: "Spatial contextualization for autonomous spatial analysis"

Reception, Screenprinting, and Poster Session

4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

Stick around to celebrate with colleagues – and explore the meeting’s first-ever poster session. Featuring posters from all active Impact Goal grant teams, as well as participants in the IonE Postdoctoral Fellowship program, the session will showcase work from across the IonE community – scientific and research findings, as well as projects, partnerships, teaching, and creative work.

Don’t forget to bring a t-shirt, tote, or other clean textile – to have your item upcycled into custom 2026 Annual Meeting swag. Live screenprinting will be available throughout the reception.