With more than $1 billion in research funding, the University of Michigan conducts a vast array of research supported by a superb infrastructure. The university's many sustainability-related research institutes, centers, laboratories, preserves, and field stations are critical components of these research endeavors. Please browse the list below to learn about these entities—and their respective roles in leading and supporting important sustainability research.
U-M Institutes
- Energy Institute. Develops, coordinates, and promotes multidisciplinary energy research and education across the university.
- Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise. Committed to creating a socially and environmentally sustainable society through the power of business.
- Graham Sustainability Institute. Fosters university-wide collaborations to advance translational science, transformative learning, and campus leadership for sustainability.
- Institute for Social Research. The world’s largest academic social science survey and research organization.
- Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI). Provides interdisciplinary research to increase driving safety and transportation systems knowledge.
Centers, Partnerships, & Initiatives
- Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP). Conducts, supports and fosters applied academic research to inform local, state, and urban policy issues.
- Center for Solar & Thermal Energy Conversion. Develops scientific strategies for maximizing energy-conversion efficiencies.
- Center for Sustainable Systems. This center develops life-cycle based models and sustainability metrics for systems that meet societal needs.
- Center for the Study of Complex Systems. Facilitates research and education in the general area of nonlinear, dynamical and adaptive systems
- Cooperative Institute for Limnology and Ecosystem Research (CILER). Serves as a focal point for collaborations between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and university researchers in the Great Lakes region.
- Ecosystem Management Initiative. This entity promotes sustainable natural resource management through ecosystem-based teaching, research and outreach.
- Environmental Law and Policy Program. Promotes interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching to address the myriad challenges facing our global environment.
- Great Lakes Integrated Sciences + Assessments. GLISA is part of a national network of regional centers focused on adaptation to climate change and variability.
- International Forestry Resources and Institutions. U-M based global research network focused on forest governance and livelihoods; focus on data collection and analysis.
- Institute for Fisheries Research. Inventory and modeling of inland lakes and rivers; inter-agency Great Lakes GIS for fisheries habitats and survey data.
- Michigan Sea Grant. Cooperative research and outreach program of U-M and Michigan State University, administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
- Mobility Transformation Center. Implementing a working system of connected and automated vehicles in Ann Arbor by 2021.
- Multicultural Environmental Leadership Development Initiative. Works to increase diversity in environmental organizations and the broader environmental movement.
- Risk Science Center. Supports science-informed decision-making on human health risks related to today's rapidly changing social, economic, and political global landscape.
- Science, Technology, and Public Policy (STPP). Devoted to interdisciplinary research and teaching on the politics and processes of science and technology policymaking.
- Water Center. Guides efforts to protect and restore freshwater ecosystems, with an initial focus on the Great Lakes.
Field Stations & Preserves
- Biological Station. Founded in 1909, this Northern Michigan facility is dedicated to education and research in field biology and related environmental sciences.
- Camp Davis Rocky Mountain Field Station. U-M has maintained this Wyoming field station since 1929, providing unparalleled learning experiences for students.
- Edwin S. George Reserve. U-M has maintained this preserve since 1930 for natural science research and education opportunities and to preserve the native flora and fauna
- Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum. Established in 1907, these Ann Arbor treasures encompass 700+ acres of gardens, preserves, and research areas
- Saginaw Forest. This 80-acre land parcel in Ann Arbor is used for forestry operations, research, and instruction.