Students in Kim Cobb's spring semester Honors Program course -- Energy, the Environment and Society -- were challenged to find ways to reduce carbon emissions on both a personal and larger scale. Cobb, an Earth and Atmospheric Sciences assistant professor, instructed students to ultimately tackle an 'institutional level' carbon reduction effort. The winning group convinced a representative from Georgia Tech Facilities to extinguish the lights at Bobby Dodd Stadium for Earth Week. This lone act was calculated to save roughly 35,000 kWh, along with preventing 28,500 kg of CO2.

The winners of the carbon reduction challenge traveled with Cobb to Washington, D.C., earlier this month to meet with staffers from the offices of U.S. senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, Georgia congressmen David Scott, John Lewis and Hank Johnson, and Sen. Richard Shelby, a ranking member with the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies. Members of winning team traveling to Washington included Christine Amuzie, Jonathan Effgen and Vivian Fan. During the D.C. visit, Cobb also presented her paleoclimate research.