Global Change & Sustainability Center

At the end of the 2019-2020 academic year, the University of Utah recognized several GCSC faculty affiliates for their contributions to research and education. Robin Kundis Craig was named Distinguished Professor of Law in the S.J. Quinney College of Law. Dr. Craig researches the law and policy of “all things water,” including water rights, water pollution, and […]

Logan Mitchell, Research Assistant Professor in Atmospheric Sciences and GCSC affiliate, monitors greenhouse gases in the Salt Lake urban region. He reports on the changes in air quality when residents have dramatically reduced vehicle trips during the coronavirus pandemic. Read about Dr. Mitchell’s preliminary findings on the Atmospheric Sciences page.

In 2010, responding to the Better Buildings challenge, the University of Utah established a carbon reduction goal of 25% by 2020. As part of that strategy, in conjunction with this challenge, the Energy Reduction Goal is also 20% by 2020. The U has now exceeded that goal, achieving a 25% energy savings. Read the whole […]

The University has awarded seed funding to support critical research to better understand and respond to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. GCSC affiliate faculty engaged in these efforts are shown below. Frederick Adler, Departments of Mathematics and Biology: Mathematically modeling the impact of viral interactions and evolution on the COVID-19 pandemic. Divya Chandrasekhar, […]

In the western United States, most of our cities are situated in arid landscapes–dryland ecosystems or deserts.  Historically, dry landscapes have been viewed as wastelands, lacking value until we created a use for them. Most humans now live in cities, and dryland ecosystems are currently home to over 2 billion people worldwide. Like any other organism, […]