As global temperatures continue to rise, forests and green infrastructure have the potential to play an outsized role in offsetting some of the effects of climate change and bolstering public health.
The Environmental Resilience Institute is measuring the benefits of green spaces in cities and towns and studying how climate change will impact existing forests.
Using a combination of growth chamber experiments, forest inventory data, and ecosystem modeling, IU Biology Professor Rich Phillips and his team seek to predict how forests change across Indiana and beyond in response to human activities such as fire suppression, nitrogen pollution, invasive species, and climate change.
Many waterways in Indiana are so contaminated that communities have largely abandoned them. Indianapolis is undertaking a massive restoration project to improve conditions. Partnering with the city, IU, and IUPUI, researchers are determining how quickly these waterway systems can be restored so communities can again value them as assets.
Green infrastructure, defined as natural, restored, or cultivated green spaces managed for their associated ecosystem services, is a growing strategy for achieving climate resilience. IU Associate Professor Heather Reynolds leads an inventory and analysis effort to understand the costs, benefits, institutions, and actors that optimize urban green infrastructure for community resilience.
