Environmental Change Initiative

Brebeck has pursued her passion in word and deed as an intern for the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN). With three other interns, she’s helping to build an online tool known as the Urban Adaptation Assessment (UAA).

As Jesse Kharbanda stood at the podium to finish his talk on Thursday night in DeBartolo Hall, an image of another man at a podium appeared behind him. Much like Kharbanda, it was a leader who called Americans to pursue what then seemed a preposterous dream. “This is President Kennedy...

The 14 investigators who received 2017 seed grants from the Notre Dame Environmental Change Initiative (ND-ECI) are seeing their research bear fruit in ways that include testing the environmental impact of nanomaterials, using crowd sensing to detect groundwater well contamination, and studying Great Lakes salmon in light of Laudato si.’…

Kyle Bibby is an associate professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering & Earth Sciences and an affiliated faculty member of the Notre Dame Environmental Change Initiative (ND-ECI). In this Q&A, Bibby discusses the emergent role and perception of his microbiome research.

Notre Dame research by Dominic Chaloner, Bharat Ranganathan, and Fr. Terrence Ehrman, C.S.C. sought to explore the principles of integral ecology set forth in Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato si’- "On Care For Our Common Home."

If there is a formula for how an internship should strike a balance between too little boss oversight and too much over-your-shoulder scrutiny, then Matt Lupo may have found it.    “It should be structured enough to tell you what to do,” said Lupo, of his internship with the Notre Dame Global...

Just because he’s an Environmental Science major doesn’t mean that Jorge Daura likes dirt. Daura worked for a time in a Notre Dame lab where he analyzed soil samples, yet it wasn’t for him. But ask him to research the emergency traffic capacity for a large city and he’s on it.  ...

To understand the pivotal role that Big Data plays in the career dreams of a ND-GAIN intern, consider what Carolyn Yvellez wants for her next birthday: a four-terabyte hard drive. It’s an essential computing tool should you want to store climate data for 278 large U.S. cities. “I need more...

Dr. Debra Javeline, associate professor in Political Science and affiliated faculty member of Notre Dame Environmental Change Initiative (ND-ECI), applies her knowledge to the “responses of ordinary people to hardship.” She spoke about her perspective in this Q&A session with ND-ECI.…

Dr. Marc Muller is assistant professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering & Earth Sciences and an affiliated faculty member of the Notre Dame Environmental Change Initiative (ND-ECI). He joined the university in 2017 and his background combines engineering with humanitarian efforts designed to reduce conflict around water scarcity....

Diogo Bolster, associate professor of engineering at Notre Dame and associate director of ND-ECI, recently visited Rome to attend the Symposium on Global Sustainability. He spoke about his experience and insights during a Q&A session:  Q: Can you explain how an associate engineering professor from Notre Dame found himself presenting to a conference...

Among the many hands-on activities during the 5th Annual Science Sunday at ND-LEEF, kids could scoop streams and ponds to find plants and insects; pet and learn about small mammals (chipmunks and field mice); and see how tree trunks shrink and swell each day as they absorb and transpire groundwater....

Kaitlin Harris serves as the Project Manager of the Urban Adaptation Assessment with the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN). She recently visited Bonn, Germany, as a representative of an observer organization, in preparation for COP 23 Conference in November. She spoke about her experience during a Q&A session: …

As climate changes in the decades ahead, nations all over the world will invest billions to make themselves more resilient to rising sea levels, hurricanes, droughts, floods and heat waves.

Before the Irish and Hokies took the field Saturday, Virginia Tech researchers took the stage to give Notre Dame an inside look at the Flint water crisis. Siddhartha “Sid” Roy and Dr. Kelsey Peiper are members of the Virginia Tech research team that in 2015 helped uncover high levels of...

If living creatures are what they eat, then many fish, birds and other creatures may well be part plastic. That’s one of many surprising lessons visitors took away from Science Sunday, held at the Notre Dame Linked Ecosystem Experimental Facility (ND-LEEF) in St. Patrick's County Park…

From the depths of Lake Malawi, Melissa Berke has helped uncover evidence that offers new insights into a long-held theory about Africa’s climate history.