The Institute focuses on pressing research areas relevant to the challenges facing the state and the nation. Institute research informs decision makers by providing the knowledge that can help create sound environmental policies.

Processes at the Air, Land, Sea Interface

Most of the life-sustaining processes on Earth exist in a narrow band close to the surface of the planet known as the Critical Zone. The Critical Zone is the heterogeneous, near-surface environment in which complex interactions involving rock, soil, water, air and living organisms regulate the natural habitat and determine the availability of life-sustaining resources. An array of important physical, chemical and biological processes and reactions occurs in the Critical Zone over a range of spatial and temporal scales.  These processes impact the mass and energy exchange necessary for biomass production, chemical recycling and water storage. They also control the transport and cycling of contaminants and nutrients. They determine the health and sustainability of the ecosystem and its inhabitants, as they control environmental complexity and have critical effects on water, air and soil quality.

Research in this area places special emphasis on the impact of biogeochemical interfacial reactions on the reactivity, transport and cycling of metals, nutrients, carbon and microbes in the environment. Policy simulation will investigate and model complexities in economic, engineering and ecological systems to provide robust insights into dynamic societal and environmental needs.

Environmental Forecasting and Restoration

The coming climate changes will undoubtedly result in changes in physical, chemical and biological processes in the natural systems that we depend on for a variety of essential services. It is critical that we monitor these systems to detect changes before they become irreversible and that we understand the consequences of the changes that we detect. Acquisition of precise and accurate real-time data through monitoring, as well as transformation of these data into a fundamental understanding of environmental change, is essential to develop the predictive models and new strategies integrating science, engineering and policy that are required to respond to these challenges. By building an interactive research and educational partnership among these disciplines, we can detect, remediate and restore essential environmental and agricultural systems. Research in this area will include the development of novel sensors that will detect, predict and provide preemptive action against deleterious environmental events. The Institute will facilitate the necessary interplay of the observational science, the engineering required to make the observations and build the models and the policy innovations to implement the necessary changes to meet these challenges.

Ecosystem Health

Earth’s natural environment provides the resources necessary for human life; at the same time, human activity shapes the environment. Through effective resource management, humans can draw life’s necessities from the environment while minimizing adverse effects and perhaps even enhancing essential processes.  On the other hand, humans may improperly manage resources or discharge pollutants into the environment that cause significant harm.  When the sources and sinks of pollutants are identified, effective control strategies can be formulated, and human activity can be altered in a manner that balances social and environmental impacts.

Research in this area will focus on the transformation and movement of natural and anthropogenic materials through the environment.

Institute research will inform decision makers by providing a fundamental knowledge base to predict the outcomes of potential environmental policies and inform scientists and engineers of key uncertainties that must be better quantified if the policies are to be effective.