UT PROFESSOR PART OF TEAM AWARDED $1 MILLION GRANT

Gail Fanning, TVC Web Manager

March 30, 2026

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (TVC) – One University of Tennessee professor is part of a team awarded a $1 million grant to study data centers in the Southern United States.

Assistant professor of human geography Gabe Schwartzman is a 2025 grantee of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. He will collaborate with professors Kristin Phillips and Idowu Ajibade of Emory University, who serve as co-principal investigators on the project. UT assistant professor Nikki Luke and Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis consultant Cathy Kunkel serve as consultants.

Schwartzman believes the project will help students learn about the environment for data centers.

“They should be curious and engaged with the questions about what this will mean for all kinds of communities here in the Tennessee Valley but certainly rural communities where data centers are being cited,” Schwartzman said.

Schwartzman and his team are looking for PhD students to assist with the project from 2027 to 2030.

About the Contributor

Gail Fanning, TVC Web Manager

Gail Fanning is a senior at UT Knoxville’s Department of Political Science and School of Journalism and Media. She joined The Volunteer Channel in August 2025 as a campus reporter and weather specialist with NWS Spotter Training. In April 2026, she was awarded the Carter Holland Memorial Scholarship in conjunction with the White House Correspondents’ Association. Fanning plans to graduate in May 2027 with degrees in political science (BA) and journalism and media (BSC) and hopes to become a political reporter. Outside of the newsroom, you can catch her reading U.S. Senate procedure, listening to the Cincinnati Reds, visiting national parks, and spending time with her cats, Hattie Mae and Caramel Candy.