Center for Energy, Environment and Sustainability launched in 2010
The university has recently approved a new interdisciplinary center to promote critical thinking and effective action across the fields of renewable energy, biodiversity and ecosystem conservation, environmental policy, human behavior, social influence, enterprise, and environmental markets. The Center for Energy, Environment and Sustainability (CEES) seeks to unify the various environmentally and socially-minded groups of academics on campus under one center, promoting advancement through collaboration. The center will also provide a focal point for engaging the public on issues of sustainability.
Officially, creation of the center aims to promote research in the fields of renewable energy, biodiversity conservation, and the human dimensions of sustainability, but the outcomes of the center will be as varied as the people working on it.
Associate professor of biology, Miles Silman, described the need for the center: “There were so many diverse areas (of study) that we had this great set of activities on campus and they were flying completely under the radar.” The center will act as a unifying force for these activities to promote awareness and wider participation, Silman said.
Both faculty and student scholars will be able to collaborate through the center to advance research opportunities, sponsor thought-provoking events, and delve deeper into some of the most crucial issues of the day. Because the more than 60 faculty and staff from 16 departments, academic, and administrative units involved in the center bring their past connections to the table, opportunities for research and collaboration are limitless.
Silman says that the varied departments and interests provide opportunities for any member of the community to get involved. “There are entry points for everybody. You don’t have to chain yourself to a tree (to work for conservation), you can be utterly profit driven and make a difference,” he said.
Because CEES will operate on half funding for its inaugural year, large events will not be held until the spring 2011 semester. Until then, students, faculty and other community members should feel free to contact the center if they want to get involved .
“The Center isn’t the center; the center is the people in it. The success of the center will be the success of its people and the ability to follow our various passions and to be creative,” Silman said.
Caitlin Brooks, Communications and Outreach Intern