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WORKING TOWARDS A JUST & LIVABLE FUTURE

 

 

At Oregon, we know that we are in the midst of unprecedented and transformative environmental change. All of us, and especially our students, are facing dramatic ecological shifts to all our natural systems because of climate change and other forces. This change highlights social justice dynamics and environmental inequities that shape our world. As a result, we see societal paradigm shifts in systems that govern our economy, the built environment, democracy, and fundamental relationships among people. This work requires the amplification of voices that have often gone unheard.

We face these challenges by generating new approaches, finding proactive problem-solving pathways, engaging in collaboration with multiple constituencies and social groups, participating in diverse ideas and forms of knowledge, and exerting the full measure of our creative energy.

About the Environment Initiative

 

 

EI Year in Review

Environment Initiative Annual Review

Read about the successes and solutions developed by experts, faculty members, fellows, and leaders within the initiative.

Read the Review

 

Events

An idyllic Oregon coast-scape bathed in yellow sunlight
What do new historic federal funding opportunities mean for Oregon?: A virtual convening of the Environment Initiative
The University of Oregon's Environment Initiative is excited to host a half-day webinar where attendees can hear from experts about potential opportunities for Oregon presented by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). 
Map of work of incarcerated Oregon firefighters
Interdisciplinarity 101 - "(In)visible Labor, Discretionary Power: Mapping the work of Oregon's incarcerated firefighters"
The University of Oregon's Center for Environmental Futures brings Dr. Leigh Johnson, assistant professor of geography, and PhD candidate Troy Brundidge, to present their talk in Columbia 249 and via Zoom.
Digital line drawing of a person tilting their chin up with their eyes closed
Princess Pocahontas and the Blue Spots: An Embodied Dialogue between 4 Contemporary Women and Ancestral Women
The illioo Native Theatre presents a staged reading of Princess Pocahontas and the Blue Spots by Monique Mojica (Kunu Rappahannock) at the Hope Theatre in the University of Oregon Miller Theatre Complex; there will also be a post-performance discussion with the readers. 

Stories Across Our Campus

people looking at glacier Building a Glacier Lab 
Wallowa mountains Telling Our Environmental Stories
Native American at EMU Acknowledging First Nations
halemaumau volcano hawaii Volcanologist Jams to the Beat of the Earth's Drummer
TriMet Growing Sustainable Cities
Climate march Teaching for a Changing Climate
Malheur rally Engaging our Rural Communities
Willamette Valley River Stories
Wind Turbines Our Green MBA
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Environment Experts in the media

For those media outlets looking to get a quote or hear from one of UO's environment experts, reach out to our media team.

Contact Media Relations

News

Stacy Alaimo smiles in the foreground; a collage representing perspectives of deep sea conservation fills the background
Fusing Art and Science to Save the Seas
Stacy Alaimo, professor of English and environmental studies at the University of Oregon, is a leader in "blue humanities," combining the critical study of the human world with marine science and ocean ecologies. 
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco could become first U.S. city to have 2 driverless taxi services by the end of the year
Fortune: Nico Larco, director of the Urbanism Next Center at the University of Oregon, is quoted as a transportation expert. 
Lauren Ponisio
Lauren Ponisio named Early Career Fellow by the Ecological Society of America
Lauren Ponisio, assistant professor of biology at the University of Oregon, was selected as an ESA Early Career Fellow early this month. 
Representation of the team's bipolar membrane system that converts seawater into hydrogen gas (Nina Fujikawa/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
Researchers devise seawater-resilient bipolar membrane electrolyzer for turning seawater into hyrdrogen
Green Car Congress: Grace Lindquist and Lihaokun Chen, graduate employees, and Shannon Boettcher, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Oregon, are study coauthors. 
Wildfire smoke tinges everything a toxic grey-orange color in Oakridge, Oregon.
EPA funding supports new center for wildfire smoke research
Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden helped secure federal funding to launch the new Center for Wildfire Smoke Research and Practice at the University of Oregon. 
School of Architecture & Environment at University of Oregon
Architectural programmes with a specific focus on sustainability and the future of Architecture
Study International: The University of Oregon's Department of Architecture is featured as a leader in environmental design and sustainability with a special focus on spatial and climate justice. 
APRU logo
UO students co-host APRU global climate change simulation
The University of Oregon is co-hosting the Student Global Climate Change Simulation, a role-playing exercise sponsored by the Association of Pacific Rim Universities in which students form transnational,  interdisciplinary teams and engage in mock-UN climate negotiations. 
Smoke chokes the sky as a wildfire approaches a tall green grove.
University of Oregon launches new smoke research center
Wildfire Today: The new Wildfire Smoke Research and Practice Center will be a hub for applicable research on ways to prevent wildfire hazards while building resilience to them. 
From left: Michael Coughlan, Heidi Huber-Stearns, Cass Moseley, André Le Duc and Ken Kato
New institute will help make communities more resilient
The new Institute for Resilient Organizations, Communities, and Environments is a multidisciplinary effort that will build upon the work of  University of Oregon's longstanding Institute for a Sustainable Environment.  
The sun looks dim and orange behind a screen of thick wildfire smoke
New wildfire smoke research hub will open at the University of Oregon
KGW-TV: The Wildfire Smoke Research and Practice Center at the University of Oregon is launching thanks to an $800,000 federal grant. 

Social Connections

 


Territorial Acknowledgement

The University of Oregon is located on Kalapuya ilihi, the traditional indigenous homeland of the Kalapuya people. Following treaties between 1851 and 1855, Kalapuya people were dispossessed of their indigenous homeland by the U.S. government and forcibly removed to the Coast Reservation in Western Oregon. Today, Kalapuya descendants are primarily citizens of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, and they continue to make important contributions to their communities, to the UO, to Oregon, and to the world.
 
In following the Indigenous protocol of acknowledging the original people of the land we occupy, we also extend our respect to the nine federally recognized Indigenous nations of Oregon: the Burns Paiute Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians, the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, the Coquille Indian Tribe, the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, and the Klamath Tribes. We express our respect to the many more tribes who have ancestral connections to this territory, as well as to all other displaced Indigenous peoples who call Oregon home.