Content: Research
Highlighted Research
The faculty that make up the School produce cutting edge research of the Earth’s physical and social systems. By studying the interaction within and between these systems we can understand the complexities of the Earth and how to ensure its sustainability.
Here are some highlighted examples:
Undergraduate Summer Research Opportunities
Deforestation and Climate in the Amazon
Somnath Baidya Roy research uses highly detailed computer simulations to demonstrate how clear-cutting of the Amazon rainforest changes the local climate – with cloud cover and rainfall increasing over the cleared regions. Such man made changes to local climate can occur in many places and contexts, including the United States. Learn more..
Environmental change and developing countries
Tom Bassett focuses his research on the social and political evolution of Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa, where changes in the savannah climate, farming practices, and land rights interact. These interactions have important consequences for aid policy. Learn more...
Tracking water contaminants
Tom Johnson uses stable isotope measurements to track the mobility and toxicity of water pollutants in agricultural runoff and from industrial and military sites. By tracking isotope ratios – like Selenium in Californian agricultural runoff – it is possible to determine the source of the pollutants. Learn more... 
Research Areas
Research in the School is organized by department. Learn more about:
The school also houses the Center for Water as a Complex Environmental System: CWACES. The primary goal of the Center is to facilitate original, interdisciplinary research on the complexity of water and water-related processes in environmental systems and on the interconnections between these processes and human society.