The Center for the Environment is an interdisciplinary hub of environmental research that is committed to generating transformative solutions to our deepest societal challenges including: climate change, air pollution, access to clean water, food insecurity, biodiversity loss and infectious diseases.
By the numbers
113
Center scholars
29
Proposals/Grants supported
500+
Activity participants
228
Journal articles published
in 2024
The Center’s mission
The center serves as a cross-cutting collaboration hub, encouraging partners, faculty and students to advance research projects in areas including biodiversity, environmental justice, planetary health, environmental solutions, and climate change. Here’s a closer look at who we are, what we do, and why it matters for our community, our region and our world.
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Featured research & stories
Konecky wins 2025 NSF CAREER Award
Bronwen Konecky has won a prestigious NSF CAREER Award to study rainfall changes in the Central America and northern South America region
For healthier people and a healthier planet
Working in partnership with communities, WashU launches a new initiative to improve nutrition and health locally, nationally and globally.
The heaviness of water
As the western U.S. faces decreasing water supplies, WashU alumni are helping negotiate how this precious resource will be managed and shared in years to come.
The WashU ecosystem
Within the WashU ecosystem of environmental research, education, and practice, the Center for the Environment serves as a connector. Much like a biodiversity corridor, we work to create space where our partners within the ecosystem and across distinct disciplines come together to address our world’s biggest environmental challenges.
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