Sustainable Environment
Creating a healthy, resilient future for life on earth
We understand that humanity’s actions affect the natural environment, and environmental changes affect humanity’s ability to thrive. UT faculty and students approach sustainable environment research as a responsibility and an opportunity for innovation.
UT researchers are developing solutions to reduce pollution, preserve habitats, and secure the planet’s natural resources. Our work opens new pathways for industries and individuals to improve environmental stewardship and protect the diversity of life forms that call this planet home.
UT’s Approach
Our research spans species and habitats from coastal wetlands to deserts to the Appalachian ecoregion. Many projects are designed to inform federal conservation strategies or enable industries to improve environmental stewardship in their supply chains. For example, faculty members studying disease pathogens that threaten global amphibian biodiversity also explore how the global pet trade could proactively mitigate pathogen transmission between captive and wild amphibians.
The UT One Health Initiative serves as an interdisciplinary hub for understanding the connections between all life and the planet. From environmental health and sustainability to emerging health threats driven by changes in climate, UT researchers are working across disciplines to create knowledge and to deliver solutions. UT faculty are part of a five-year federal grant to study links between climate change, harmful algal blooms, and human health.
UT researchers apply artificial intelligence, machine learning, and multimodal modeling to understand interactions between health and environmental factors and improve environmental outcomes. One team studies machine learning models used to monitor air quality, while another uses them to study wildfires and their carbon emissions in vulnerable ecosystems. A transdisciplinary faculty cluster is using AI to advance climate-smart agriculture and forestry.
UT prioritizes research and engagement in sustainable agriculture around the world and here at home. UT leads the US Department of Agriculture–funded Grasslands Partnership to engage farmers in climate-smart regenerative practices that increase soil carbon storage, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and optimize productivity. UT Extension is engaged in another USDA-funded project, a five-year collaboration focused on West Tennessee producers and landowners.
“Developing new approaches to conserving species and ecosystems, while also trying to understand the many ways nature benefits people, is an interdisciplinary challenge. It’s about biodiversity and all of its complex interactions. But it’s also about people and how they interact with each other and with the natural world. By leveraging the breadth of expertise on our campus, our partnerships with conservation organizations and natural resource managers, and our location in a biodiversity hotspot, UT is ideally positioned to deliver on these challenges.”
—Paul Armsworth, Distinguished Service Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Highlights
Facilities & Initiatives
Our sustainable environment research is carried out in labs, on farms, and across communities. We apply insights we create here in Tennessee to shape a healthier future around the world.
- Amphibian Disease Lab
- AI Tennessee
- Biology Field Station
- Center for Wildlife Health
- Center of Excellence in Livestock Diseases and Human Health
- Denbo Center for Humanities and the Arts
- Institute for Climate and Community Resilience
- Institute for a Secure and Sustainable Environment
- National Institute for Modeling Biological Systems
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory Climate Change Science Institute
- Tennessee RiverLine
- Tennessee Water Resources Research Center
- UT Herbarium
- UT One Health Initiative
Our Researchers
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Executive Director, Tennessee RiverLine; Professor, UT Extension
Community development, asset-based development, landscape performance, watersheds, rivers, Tennessee River, landscape architecture, design, water resource management, stewardship, economic development, public health, equity of access, outdoor recreation, tourism, and outdoor economy
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Department Head and Robert M. Condra Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Microbial gene expression profiles during biofuel production from cellulosic feedstocks
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Professor & Director, NIMBioS
Mathematical modeling, supply network stability, bioinspired algorithms, individual and population health
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John D. Tickle Professor & Director, Institute for a Secure & Sustainable Environment
Manufacturing energy efficiency, optimization, sustainability, transportation, supply chain and logistics, building environment, climate change, clean energy transition, advanced and smart manufacturing
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Professor & Assistant Director, Center for Renewable Carbon
Circular bioeconomy, integrated biorefining, sustainable advanced manufacturing, green chemistry, bioenergy, bioderived chemicals and materials
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Department Head and Jones/Bibee Professor; Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences
Earth system evolution, invasive species, biotic responses to climate change in Earth’s history, marine ecosystems, paleontology, mass extinctions and biodiversification events
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Professor, School of Natural Resources
Lignocellulosic materials, nano materials, nano-mechanics, composites, energy, remediation