Urban Environment Lab

Today's Research on the Challenges of Sustainable Development

The current social context surrounding climate change is ushering in a new era of land use, planning, and development, one that reconsiders the role of natural disasters, natural resources, and environmental impacts on the communities in which we live. The Urban Environment Lab engages students, policy-makers, and research partners in collaborative projects and discussions on the determinants of hazard vulnerability, community resilience, sustainable development, and infrastructure adaptation at the intersection of the natural, social, and built environments.

RSS State of the Planet

  • We Have the Power To Protect Our Planet April 1, 2025
    Our Power, Our Planet is the theme of Earth Day 2025, and it invites the world to join together in support of renewable energy.
    Olga Rukovets
  • Poets and Polders March 31, 2025
    Continuing on our journey, we visited the shrine and former home of Bangladeshi cultural icons, continued our interviews, and boarded a boat to take us to the embanked islands known as polders.
    Mike Steckler
  • From Mountain Regions to Island States: U.N. Celebrates First World Glacier Day March 28, 2025
    U.N. delegates and glaciologists convened to address the profound impacts of accelerating glacial melting, particularly for freshwater resources, mountain communities and small island states.
    Guest
  • A Special Trip to Bangladesh March 25, 2025
    In Bangladesh, a large and growing population lives in one of the most dynamic and sensitive environments on Earth, subject to multiple natural disasters and threatened by climate change.
    Mike Steckler
  • An MPA-ESP Student’s Path to Climate Policy and Environmental Justice March 24, 2025
    Fatou Kiné Gueye shares her perspective on climate action and how she plans to translate her coursework into meaningful action in her home country of Senegal.
    Guest