Department of Earth and Environmental Science

Institute for Environmental Studies

About IES

The University encompasses a variety of programs and faculty who are involved with environmental research from many perspectives, which range from the assessment of the risk of exposure to toxic substances to the evaluation of global climate change. Mention the environment to a Penn alum and you are likely to hear how his or her life was changed by reading Design with Nature by Ian McHarg, who was the founder of Penn's program in Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, or by hearing Dan Janzen, a Professor in the Department of Biology, lecture on the challenges of saving the biodiversity of the tropics. There are such faculty within all twelve schools of the University who are involved in a bewildering array of environmental research, and quite simply, the role of the Institute for Environmental Studies is to draw these individuals into a focused intellectual community.

The Institute for Environmental Studies is dedicated to improving our understanding of key scientific, economic, and political issues that underlie environmental problems and their management. We address the gaps between science and policy, and we study problems that arise from the lack of integration of traditionally separate disciplines. The Institute is committed to two specific areas - urban environmental problems and watershed issues - in which we believe the Institute can make valuable contributions.

Members do not hold formal appointments with the Institute, and so the Institute functions as an affiliation of individuals with similar interests. Collaborative endeavors span areas in basic and applied sciences, engineering, law, business, the social sciences, and the humanities. There are nearly 100 faculty members who have been involved in the Institute's efforts, and they come from a wide range of backgrounds and departments - from Landscape Architecture in the Graduate School of Fine Arts to Public Policy and Management Department in the Wharton School.

While it is difficult to summarize the scope and variety of research that is done by members of the Institute, there are four very board groups. These are not hard and fast groupings, and many individuals have interests that span two or more areas.

Earth, Ecology and Ecosystems

This group includes faculty with interests at the interface of geology, ecology, and evolution. Members of this group address such issues as global warming, ozone depletion, acid rain, tropical deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and extinction dynamics. The ecologists, population biologists, behaviorists, and evolutionists within the Department of Biology fall naturally into this group, as do many of the members of the Department of Earth and Environmental Science.

Environmental Toxicology

A number of faculty in the Department of Biology, the Department of Earth and Environmental Science, the Medical School, the School of Nursing, and the Dental School are interested in environmentally-related health issues. Such research at Penn has focused on toxicological studies of heavy metals-particularly lead and mercury-which constitute some of the most toxic hazardous materials present in the environment. The Institute has provided the infrastructure to support collaborative research on lead contamination with faculty from the Medical School, the Dental School, and the School of Arts and Sciences.

Environmental Engineering

Faculty members from the School of Engineering employ systems-engineering principles in its search for technological solutions to environmental problems. This group's biotechnology research program encompasses bioremediation of surface and ground, water; in situ bioremediation of contaminated soil: bioprocesses for environmental control, and biomass conversion, which has applications in the management of organic solid wastes. Other faculty members from several departments in the School of Arts and Sciences, including the Department of Biology have been in the forefront of using biotechnology in the development of bioremediation approaches.

Environmental Policy

This group combines the perspectives of experts in economics, decision science, political science, law, regional planning, policy analysis, and psychology. The research agenda of the policy group utilizes a combination of different tools, including firm-based studies and assessment of market-based regulatory systems, to address specific policy concerns under the general theme of achieving sustainable development. Penn has one of the world's foremost academic centers on risk and decision making housed within the Wharton School; it is a business-oriented, problem-focused research center, which has been linking descriptive and prescriptive environmental analysis since its founding. Several faculty members from the Wharton School are well-known for their work in environmental analysis and have been active supporters of the Institute.

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