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Research

Research fuels the social and technological innovation that is essential for an environmentally sustainable future. Cutting-edge research is a hallmark of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a major enterprise in the Nelson Institute.

Centers

Dozens of grant-supported projects are under way in the Nelson Institute at any given time. Most take place within our four research centers:

Center for Climatic Research (CCR) conducts disciplinary and interdisciplinary research using observations and earth-system models; integrates knowledge of past, present, and future climates to create a holistic understanding of the climate system; and studies physical, ecological, and societal impacts of climatic variations and climate change.

Center for Culture, History, and Environment (CHE), established in 2007, studies environmental and cultural change over the full sweep of human history from many perspectives. Its participants, drawn from such disparate fields as anthropology, botany, forestry, geography, history, history of science, landscape architecture, law, literature, and rural sociology, seek to understand human-environment interactions over time and their consequences in public policy, public health, social justice, and other cultural realms.

Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE) brings together researchers from the natural, health, and social sciences; engineering; and other fields to study regional and global problems stemming from interactions between environmental systems, natural resources, and human activity. SAGE also spearheads a National Science Foundation-funded Integrated Graduate Education, Research, and Training (IGERT) program in environmental vulnerability and sustainability.

Land Tenure Center (LTC) studies links between resource access, poverty and environmental sustainability; identifies governance systems, land planning processes, and institutional arrangements favoring sustainability; tests innovative, pro-poor biodiversity conservation strategies; and informs and influences the work of policymakers and practitioners. Established at UW-Madison in 1962, the center became part of the Nelson Institute in 2004.

RESEARCH ACROSS THE CAMPUS

Many Nelson Institute graduate students conduct research in conjunction with individual professors who are also affiliated other academic units or research centers. Likewise, faculty and staff of the institute participate in research in a diversity of settings. The capacity of the institute to accommodate many different contexts for research is part of the flexibility that allows us to adapt to the ever-changing environmental research landscape. Examples of the diversity of research under the Nelson umbrella include the Wisconsin Buffer Initiative.

The Nelson Institute also hosts the Wildlife Disease Information Node (WDIN), a cooperative unit of UW-Madison and the U.S. Geological Survey that is developing a Web-based monitoring and reporting system on wildlife diseases, mortality events, and related information.

Research Centers