Evironmental Institute

The Environmental Institute (TEI) and its associated centers promote environmental research and scholarship on campus. Activities span academic disciplines in the life sciences, natural resources, engineering, public health, and social sciences. TEI's goal is to promote collaborations to better understand the environmental problems and challenges confronting society and to develop the tools and methods to address these challenges. Its mission is fourfold: to encourage high-quality, high-impact environmental research addressing important environmental issues; to serve as a gateway for information on environmental research and education on campus; to coordinate and foster scholarly environmental activities; and to facilitate collaborations between University researchers and public agencies and private and non-profit groups.

TEI includes eight centers and affiliates: the National Environmental Technology Institute, the Massachusetts Water Resources Research Center, the Office of Geographic and Information Systems, the Environmental Analysis Laboratory, the Earth Sciences Information Center (the Massachusetts branch of the U.S. Geological Survey's Earth Science Information Center), the Cooperative Marine Research and Education Program (a partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), the Office of the Massachusetts State Geologist (housed in the University's Geosciences Department), and Archaeological Services (located in the Department of Anthropology). Center-sponsored research projects and educational activities involve faculty and students from many different colleges and departments across campus. TEI is a unit of the Vice Chancellor for Research. Its director is David A. Reckhow, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. TEI is located in Blaisdell House; tel. (413) 545-2842, email: tei@tei.umass.edu, and website www.umass.edu/tei.