Disease compromises humankind’s existence … but it is not disease inflicted on humans … rather it is the disease inflicted by humans on our planet. Climate change continues to outpace the implementation of renewable energy. With an understanding that populations of our society without large energy infrastructures will largely drive climate change by mid-century, our research is especially focused on developing a science that underpins the implementation of distributed energy systems (i.e., personalized energy). In the Nocera group, students with expertise in all chemical areas of science (inorganic, organic, solid state, physical and biological) apply their craft to addressing society’s greatest challenge in the 21st century—the delivery of a carbon-neutral and sustainable energy and processes to all on our planet. In pursuing this goal, science spans both chemical and biological energy transduction, giving rise to a wide swath of science in inorganic, organic materials and chemical biology.