Environmental Science and Design Research Institute

Environmental Science and Design Research Institute
Torrance Gaskins and Kaitlin Shvach, first place winners of 2020 ESDRI Symposium Poster session

A rift along the Larsen C ice shelf from the vantage point of NASA's DC-8 research aircraft. Image acquired by NASA on November 10, 2016. Photo credit: John Sonntag / NASA

Joseph D. Ortiz, Ph.D., professor and assistant chair in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Geology at , recently authored a “News and Views” article in Nature Geoscience that discusses research carried out by another research team that reassessed the melt history and timing of the collapse of the Eurasian Ice Sheet Complex during the Last Deglaciation.

Image for Earth Stanzas

The Center for Earth Ethics at Union Theological Seminary in New York City and the Wick Poetry Center at are launching Earth Stanzas, an interactive poetry project in honor of Earth Day, which is celebrated around the world on April 22. draws on the inspiration of eight poets who engage the beauty, depth and interconnectedness of the Earth, and invites readers to interact with the poems and find their own poetic voice.

BioBlack Team Poses with their bacteria-dyed tote bad and dress dyed with bacterium

The words “biology” and “design” might not typically intertwine; however, ’s Biodesign Challenge course was created to challenge the idea that the two separate disciplines could not collaborate.

Division of Research & Economic Development
Rachel Armstrong, of Newcastle University (U.K.) stands near a beach at night.

Lauren Kinsman-Costello, assistant professor of biological sciences at , stands in a field in the arctic circle, in Sweden.

In early February, scientists reported the hottest temperature on record in Antarctica: 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Studies show climate change is disproportionately affecting the poles, warming them faster than anywhere else on Earth, and raising questions about what kinds of changes we can expect in arctic ecosystems as temperatures rise. 
A biologist has teamed up with some colleagues in an inter-institutional effort to answer some of those questions.


Division of Research & Economic Development
Case and McMahon's print, depicting overlapping plants in blue, pink, purple, orange, yellow and black, on a white background.

Erie, Pennsylvania, community members gather with CUDC students

When cities need help imagining new possibilities for their urban places and communities, they call ’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative (CUDC). Most recently, architecture students had the opportunity to put the skills they learn in the classroom to make an impact on local communities in Erie, Pennsylvania.