Sustainability science for global solutions...

The science that addresses today's and tomorrow's pressing environmental issues must arise from a broad multidisciplinary foundation.

With that in mind, the University of Tennessee (UT) created the Institute for a Secure and Sustainable Environment (ISSE) to promote development of policies, technologies, and educational programs that cut across multiple disciplines, engage the university's research faculty and staff, and grow in response to environmental issues facing the state, the nation, and the globe.

Dr. Chris Cox, professor and associate department head in UT's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, directs ISSE and leads a staff comprising economists, biologists, ecologists, hydrologists, political scientists, planners, educators, communicators, chemists, engineers, accountants, sociologists, geographers, information-systems specialists, and historians. Together, ISSE researchers mobilize the full complement of skills and disciplines necessary to examine the environment in all its dimensions and shape strategies that help restore its health.

In harmony with the National Academies’ current emphasis on sustainability science, ISSE has identified a nexus where its research and policy agenda can thrive and have the greatest impact. It exists at the convergence of three of the more critical factors influencing environmental health and sustainability: the carbon cycle and carbon sequestration, climate and natural systems response, and renewable bioenergy.

 

ISSE’s Specialized Centers, Programs, and Initiatives

Center for Clean Products works with industry to develop, evaluate, and promote cleaner products and cleaner technologies that minimize pollution at the source and contribute to long-term sustainable development.

Center for International Networking Initiatives/GLORIAD - CINI develops networking projects using next-generation Internet capability that are designed to tie scientists, educators, and students together in countries around the globe.

China-US Joint Research Center for Ecosystem and Environmental Change, which occupies research facilities at UT/ORNL and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, addresses the environmental consequences of biofuels production and use, and the combined effects of climate change and human activities on regional and global ecosystems.

East Tennessee Clean Fuels Coalition promotes the use of alternative fuels, reduced reliance on foreign sources of oil, and improved air quality for the East Tennessee region. ETCFC is a participant in the national Clean Cities Program of the Department of Energy.

Tennessee Water Resources Research Center is a federally designated state research institute supported in part by the US Geological Survey. The center serves as a primary link among water-resource experts in academia, government, and the private sector.