FY25 Annual Report

Creating connections, expanding reach

In FY25 (July 2024 – June 2025), the IU Environmental Resilience Institute expanded its programming, set a new attendance record at the Indiana Sustainability and Resilience Conference, and continued to support and champion sustainability initiatives across the state. 

At a glance, ERI: 

  • initiated eight community tree planting plans and worked with six cities on high-priority projects from their climate action plans 
  • surpassed 250 student placements all-time through McKinney Climate Fellows 
  • garned a $16M subaward to expand Hoosier communities' access to solar energy
  • launched FARMWISE Indiana to strengthen ties between local food producers and large, regional buyers 
  • celebrated the life and legacy of Bob McKinney, whose McKinney Family Foundation partnered with ERI to form the McKinney Midwest Climate Projects in 2021 

Read on to discover more highlights from the past fiscal year. 

On this page

Students leading the climate charge

   

In FY25, more than 65 IU students from four campuses contributed to the sustainability goals of Indiana organizations as McKinney Climate Fellows (MCF). Fellows engaged communities on the benefits of urban trees, led strategic sustainability planning, restored native habitat, and more.

The MCF program has now surpassed 100,000 hours dedicated to Indiana's sustainability and placed over 250 students with Indiana local governments, businesses, and nonprofits since the program's inception.

View a photo gallery of the 2024 McKinney Climate Fellows     Meet some of the 2025 McKinney Climate Fellows

I think the Midwest gets overlooked despite what a lot of its states, cities, and communities are trying to do... I wanted to show that the Midwest is doing important work.

Nicole Chandler (MCF ‘22) on why she stayed in Indiana after graduation

ERI trained another group of 2024 Resilience Cohort participants through the practice of  “Strategic Doing,” a framework for tackling complex problems, like sustainability, where solutions require extensive collaboration. As part of the program, each community applied Strategic Doing to one aspect of their climate action plans with the support of McKinney Climate Fellows.

South Bend engages community on local EV charging infrastructure

Read about the project

Fort Wayne promotes multi-language emergency alert system

Learn about the alert system

Funding hub secures $16M for Indiana climate and resilience projects

The Indiana Resilience Funding Hub (IRFH), jointly administered by ERI and the IU Center for Rural Engagement, helps Hoosier local governments, community-based organizations, and small businesses pursue grant funding for climate, energy, and resilience projects.

In FY25, the Hub helped community partners apply for more than $26M in grant funding and secured more than $16M.

Read about the successful awards:

As a technical partner with Solar Opportunities Indiana (SOI), ERI is helping cities and rural communities across the state develop solar and battery storage projects that qualify for $16 million in funding. The funding represents a slice of the $117 million grant stewarded by SOI to connect low-income and disadvantaged communities in Indiana to the benefits of solar energy.

Learn more

The Southwestern Indiana Citizens for Quality of Life (SWICQL) was awarded $75,000 for air monitoring, water monitoring and testing, and community epidemiology outreach.

The Town of Newburgh, Ind., was awarded $154,000 to develop a Comprehensive Safety Action Plan to prevent roadway fatalities and serious injuries and continue work on a Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) engineering study. 

Strengthening ties between institutional buyers and Hoosier farmers

To bring local food to more local plates, ERI launched FARMWISE Indiana at the start of FY25. The project connects institutional buyers, such as schools, hospitals, and senior centers, to local growers that can meet their needs.

In its first year, FARMWISE Indiana hired a statewide team of value chain professionals to develop relationships with buyers and suppliers and identify business opportunities. In total, the team met with over 200 supply chain partners and attended more than 100 stakeholder events.

Read more about FARMWISE Indiana's launch

Bloomington extreme heat action plan

During a year that broke global temperature records, ERI affiliated faculty and students worked with the City of Bloomington to develop an extreme heat action plan.

Read about the plan

Decision 2024

In collaboration with the IU Public Policy Institute’s Center for Civic Literacy, ERI co-authored a report examing the growing number of environmental, economic, health, and infrastructure challenges Hoosier communities face.

View the report

Midwest CASC gathering

ERI continues to lead IU's participation in the Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center, sending a delegation to the consortium's annual gathering focused on the challenges and opportunities of climate adaptation.

Read about the event

Indiana Transformations

The second installment of IU Press’ book series on environmental change showcases familiar Indiana locations through an unfamiliar lens—aerial drone photography.

Learn more about the book

Species and climate change

A new framework developed through an interdisciplinary collaboration established at ERI takes a close look at the strategies available to plants and animals in response to climate change and their interactions.

Find out more about the study

Perfect storm of discovery

ERI affilate Travis O’Brien is at the forefront of untangling the factors that feed extreme weather. In a wide-ranging interview, O'Brien spoke about his research, teaching, and more.

Read the Q&A

Bringing Hoosier climate leaders together

Over 450 people attended the annual Indiana Sustainability and Resilience Conference (ISRC), held Feb. 28, 2025 at the Monroe Convention Center in Bloomington. The event shined a spotlight on efforts and opportunities to accelerate the adoption of climate solutions in Indiana.

During the conference’s plenary roundtable discussion, McKinney Family Foundation Executive Director Stephanie Goodrid Lawson led a discussion on the growth of Indiana’s environmental sector and in-state efforts to invest in climate solutions.

In addition to speakers and panels geared toward practitioners, ISRC featured a series of research presentations and a poster session highlighting climate and sustainability scholarship with implications for Indiana.

Read about the roundtable     Explore the action map     Browse photos

Solar United Neighbors Indiana Program Director Zach Schalk (center) speaks during the ISRC plenary roundtable. Schalk emphasized the importance of advocating for policy that supports climate and resilience work. “Building power with your neighbors and mobilizing as part of a bigger group is just as important as doing a project on your home, business, or congregation,” he said. James Brosher
Danni Schaust applies a label sharing her resilience story. James Brosher
ERI Executive Director Gabriel Filippelli addresses the audience during the 2025 Indiana Sustainability and Resilience Conference. In the morning, Filippelli spoke about recent climate reports and climate-fueled natural disasters. “We’re going to be dealing with the impacts of climate change for some time,” he said, “but we know what needs to be done to address the problem today.”  James Brosher

Expenses and awards

ERI had an operating budget of $2.7M in FY25 and received $2.7M in sponsored funding and $425K in University funding to support operations, research, and service. Including multi-year awards, ERI has secured sponsored funding totaling $7.5M.

The following chart shows how ERI allocated its FY25 operating budget:

Get an accessible version of ERI's 2024 operating budget chart.

The following chart shows ERI's FY25 sponsored awards by funding source:

Check out an accessible version of ERI's FY25 sponsored funding chart.

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