About the Academy

History | Steering Committee

The Academy for the Environment, established in 2004, is an interdisciplinary institute at the University of Nevada, Reno, whose mission is to develop, enhance and coordinate environmental teaching, research and service at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Our objectives

develop innovative courses
provide cross-college connections related to the environment;
support the development of interdisciplinary programs in environmental studies;
link the environmental programs of sciences/engineering with those in the arts/humanities;
enhance and expand research/scholarship opportunities for environmental faculty;
conduct collaborative public outreach activities on the environment;
raise the environmental awareness of the campus; and
promote environmentally-related programs at the university.

History

The University of Nevada, Reno has a long history of both departmentally-based and campus-wide interdisciplinary environmental programs. There also have been several efforts in the past that have tried to foster and coordinate greater interaction among faculty and staff interested in environmental issues.

In the 1990s, two university centers were created to promote greater activity in this arena at the University of Nevada, Reno.

The Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering (CESE) at the University of Nevada, Reno was created in 1992 with the help of a large grant by Sierra Pacific Resources. It was designed to prepare scientists and engineers for careers in the expanding areas dealing with environmental processes and quality, and stimulate research into solutions to the environmental problems of Nevada, the American Southwest and the world. Expertise in the Center came primarily from the University of Nevada, Reno and the Desert Research Institute. In addition, the Center coordinated closely with scientists, engineers, educators, administrators and other policy makers from all segments of the Nevada System of Higher Education, governmental agencies, environmental groups and industry.
The Center for Environmental Arts and Humanities (CEAH) was established in July 1995 in recognition of the central place of the fine arts and humanistic scholarly disciplines in exploring the meaning of the natural environment for human culture and the impact humans exert on the larger planet. Traditionally, environmental studies programs have emphasized the physical sciences and policy studies; however, the Center for Environmental Arts and Humanities brought together a group of distinguished scholars and teachers from such fields as literature, photography, philosophy, history, geography and anthropology to illuminate not only the physical and political dimension of the environment, but the important ways in which nature permeates our imaginative lives, our cultural and aesthetic experience, in America and throughout the world. In complementing the work of the University Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering, their goal was to create a new model for interdisciplinary research and teachin g on environmental topics by merging the scientific and humanistic disciplines.

These Centers provided outstanding leadership on campus and promoted a significant number of seminars, projects, and other opportunities for interaction among faculty and staff that had not occurred previously.

A Proposal for a New Center

However, a greater university commitment to interdisciplinary environmental programs was desired by the faculty. Therefore, in 2003, a self-organized group of faculty (including many from CESE and CEAH) promoted the establishment of a university-wide environmental institute to further enhance and coordinate campus-wide environmental teaching, research, and service. Following extensive faculty discussion, a proposal to create the Academy for the Environment (UNAE) was submitted for review to the Faculty Senate. Under this proposal, the CESE and the CEAH will be sunset and their functions merged under the umbrella of the new Academy for the Environment.

This proposal was unanimously endorsed by the Faculty Senate on 22 April 2004 (Earth Day) and subsequently approved by the Board of Regents on 3 June 2004. On 22 November 2004, the Provost appointed an Interim Executive Director to open the office, hire support staff, and begin the process of establishing the UNAE on the University of Nevada, Reno campus.

Steering Committee

Sudeep Chandra	Natural Resources & Environmental Science	784-6221	sudeep@cabnr.unr.edu
Susan Donaldson	Cooperative Extension	784-4848	donaldsons@unce.unr.edu
Jacque Ewing-Taylor	Education Specialties	784-7784	jacque@unr.edu
Peter Goin	Art	784-4994	goin@unr.nevada.edu
Alan Heyvaert	Desert Research Institute	673-7322	Alan.Heyvaert@dri.edu
Edward Kolodziej	Civil & Environmental Engineering	682-5553	koloj@unr.edu
Kim Rollins	Resource Economics	784-1677	krollins@cabnr.unr.edu
John Sagebiel	Environmental Health & Safety	784-1139	jsagebiel@unr.edu
Amy Shannon	Library	784-6616	ashannon@unr.edu
Scott Slovic	English	784-7536	slovic@unr.edu
Danny Taylor	Mining Engineering	784-6922	dtaylor@mines.unr.edu
Dick Tracy	Biology	784-1925	dtracy@biodiversity.unr.edu
Leah Wilds	Political Sciences	784-4601 x2813	wilds@unr.edu