My Independent Research and Development (IRD) while serving at (and supported by) the NSF focuses on applications of artificial intelligence to problems of sustainability and climate change, quantifying the energy footprints (and use) of computing infrastructure (including its potential to reduce energy footprints in other sectors such as travel), and infusing computing education with treatments of contemporary and ethical issues.    
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<a href="SS08FisherD.pdf">"AI and Developing Socially-engaged Computational Thinkers"</a> (Position Paper, AAAI Spring Symposium on "Using AI to Motivate Greater Participation in Computer Science" (2008). The <a href="FisherAAAISSS08Talk.pdf">the talk itself (Powerpoint slides given here)</a> describes a course that illustrates societal embedding of computing: "Computing, Sustainability, and the Environment" will convene in "virtual space" in Fall 2008 and will talk about Computing's burden on the natural environment, "green" computing, and Computing's possible role in larger sustainability strategies.