Beginning in autumn quarter 2026, the PCC Graduate Steering Committee (P-GraSC) is organizing a new initiative: the Peer Interdisciplinary Climate Lab (aka PICL). By recruiting a cohort of 20 graduate students and postdoctoral students who will meet regularly each quarter, P-GraSC intends to foster a low-stakes collaborative space where participants can comfortably share their research with their peers, while critically thinking about how interdisciplinary connections can be expanded throughout the PCC. Each quarter, a focused, discussion-driven 1-hour meeting will center on the 2026-2027 academic year topic of Climate Solutions.

In its inaugural year, PICL has the following goals:

● Foster meaningful connections and sustain intellectual exchange among graduate students and postdoctoral scholars in PCC.

● Provide a supportive space for concise research presentations that build communication skills across disciplines.

● Encourage interdisciplinary feedback that strengthens climate research and broadens applicability.

● Advance climate solutions-oriented research by helping participants refine problem framing, identify actionable pathways, and integrate perspectives across natural sciences, social sciences, and policy.

P-GraSC will begin recruiting participants for the 2026-27 PICL cohort in August. Please keep an eye out for these communications, and make sure that you’re signed up for the PCC listserv to receive them!

Written by Katelin Teigen,  PhD student in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences and P-GraSC member