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The Institute of the Environment and Energy (IoEE) at UConn brings together the expertise and passion of scientists and scholars across the University to address some of the most pressing challenges and grandest opportunities society faces in the 21st century.

The work of the IoEE starts internally, through collaborations with the University’s operational units to ensure that our institutional commitments to sustainability and green infrastructure are essential values that guide decision-making. Administratively, the IoEE currently comprises more than 170 faculty members and includes five administrative units: the Center for Environmental Sciences & Engineering (CESE), the Eversource Energy Center (EEC), the Natural Resources Conservation Academy (NRCA), the New England Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center (TCTAC), and the Office of Sustainability (OS).

The IoEE works to advance foundational understanding and develop innovative solutions to pressing environmental challenges, to prepare the next generation as adept and agile members of a 21st century workforce, and to inform and engage the public about what are arguably the existential issues of our time. Solving environmental problems related to climate change, sustainability, food security, pollution, and species extinction requires an interdisciplinary approach that leverages expertise from diverse disciplines across the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. It requires consideration of multiple angles, from biophysical to cultural, and from legal to health perspectives.

Established in 2019, IoEE has a mission to advance research, education, and engagement concerning the environment and sustainability at the University of Connecticut.

The Institute of the Environment and Energy (IoEE) acts as an umbrella organization to enhance synergy, collaboration, and cooperation across all facets of the University including the arts and humanities; biophysical, engineering, and social sciences; law and policy; and health and agriculture.

The Institute engages faculty members, staff members, and students to address some of the most pressing challenges facing society in the 21st century, from climate change and biodiversity loss to air and water pollution, energy and food security, and sustainability.

Devastating effects of Coral bleaching as a result of global warming and ocean acidification. Where there once was a large area of healthy stag horn coral, now there is only the skeletal remains

Fool’s Gold: A Hidden Climate Stabilizer

“It’s intriguing to see how Earth can recover from very severe past experiences that wiped out life on the planet”

Four researchers stand outside of a large blue and white research boat.

Working to Understand Why Mercury Levels are so High in the Arctic

Researchers tackle a previously unexplored aspect of mercury at the air-sea interface

A view of a river surrounded by green scenery including grasses and trees.

After 170 Years, Thoreau’s River Observations Inform Our Changing Climate

A then-and-now comparison of the timing of seasonal events helps translate the abstraction of climate change into the reality of actual life