Research

Research in the Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences takes an integrated and practical approach to human-environmental interactions and resource and environmental problems. Our research interests and applications are necessarily diverse as we strive to tackle local, regional, and global environmental problems as they relate to the health of the ecosphere and its people. We study this through the lens of interdisciplinary research spanning social and natural sciences. Typical research approaches include community-based research, telemetry, ecological modeling, and field and laboratory experiments. 

The work in our department contributes to a broad array of meaningful initiatives at different geographical scales. We conduct research to enhance environmental governance and natural resource management, improve agricultural sustainability, understand human and climate impacts on forests and wildlife populations, and conserve species at risk. Our research is increasingly relevant as we continue to see a rise in human activities that threaten the global ecosystems and the people that depend on them.