ERI collaborating on initiatives to boost research impact

Research supported by the Environmental Resilience Institute (ERI) may start in a lab, in the field, or on a supercomputer, but its ultimate destination is the hands of leaders and decision makers who are working to address environmental change in ways big and small. 

To help researchers go the extra mile, ERI is supporting 7 new projects to bring climate and environmental science into the classrooms and communities of Indiana residents and others. The projects range from digital storytelling about Indiana’s changing southern hills landscape, to audio stories on environmental justice issues, to new curricula for K-12 students.

“Finding solutions to climate change and other environmental issues starts with fostering awareness and creating opportunities for more people to engage,” said ERI Director Janet McCabe. “We are eager to see these projects draw awareness to Hoosiers' daily connections to environmental change and resilience.”

The projects the institute will support include:

Environmental storytelling

• A collaboration between frontline communities and the In This Climate podcast to produce audio stories on environmental justice.
• An interactive web page capturing landscape evolution within Indiana’s southern hills ecoregion that will inform community members and land managers planning restoration efforts.
• An accessible publication highlighting the animal and plant research conducted at the Kent Farm Research Station.

Education and student research

• An interactive research and education program focused on sharing the successes and challenges of local government sustainability planning with Indiana communities and policymakers.
• A climate engineering teaching module for high school students to help educate the next generation on the tradeoffs of various climate-altering strategies.
• A summer research experience for Indiana undergraduates from underrepresented groups focused on the mechanisms and impacts of invasive species.
• A teaching module on biodiversity that will provide outreach design training to graduate students and postdocs and be shared with Indiana teachers at a training workshop.

About the Environmental Resilience Institute

Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute brings together a broad, bipartisan coalition of government, business, nonprofit and community leaders to help Indiana better prepare for the challenges that environmental changes bring to our economy, health, and livelihood. Launched in May 2017, ERI is working to deliver tailored and actionable solutions to communities across the state of Indiana.