Tackling the world's environmental problems through innovation and interdisciplinary collaborations is the focus of a new institute at the University of Guelph.
The Guelph Institute for Environmental Research (GIER) will build on the University's expertise in the environment and sustainability by bringing together researchers from diverse fields.
"GIER includes researchers from all seven colleges at the University," said Prof. Madhur Anand, the institute's inaugural executive director. "Not many places in the world aim to contain such a breadth of environmental inquiry under one umbrella."
Pressing challenges such as the climate crisis and rapid decline in biodiversity are interdisciplinary in nature and require an understanding of human-environment interactions, said Anand.
"Collaboration is essential for front-line environmental protection, whether that is clean air, clean water, healthy food or any valued ecosystem service. Many of these things are inextricably connected, requiring interdisciplinary approaches."
More than 200 faculty members across campus study aspects of the environment. With annual funding of more than $400,000, GIER will stimulate collaborations and raise the profile of environmental research through conferences and other gatherings.
"As pressures on the global environment intensify, we must intensify our response as world leaders in many areas of research related to the environment," said Charlotte Yates, provost and vice-president (academic).
