University Of California Riverside
 
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About ERI

About ERI:
 The University of California, Riverside has established the UCR Environmental Research Institute to act as an umbrella Institute that will integrate several new and several internationally renowned interdisciplinary environmental research centers and educational programs related to air, water, biodiversity, and natural resources - specifically, the Center for Conservation Biology, the College of Engineering-Center for Research and Technology, the Air Pollution Research Center, the Center for Water Resources, and the Center for Sustainable Suburban Development. We will coordinate this effort with the eight Reserves managed by UCR in the UC Natural Reserve System, and the joint degree program in Environmental Management being developed at the Richard J. Heckmann International Center for Entrepreneurial Management at UCR's Palm Desert Education Center, located in the Coachella Valley (a large underserved desert area that, among other complex environmental difficulties, contains the Salton Sea). The UCR Environmental Research Institute will assume the challenge of developing the tools and technologies for integrated resource planning and management. The heart of this strategy will be to implement a new comprehensive vision for an integrative approach to air, water, energy, and biodiversity to meet the 21st century challenge to the environment in Southern California.

The objectives of the Institute are:

  1. To define and develop methodologies and technologies that will improve air quality, water resources, environmental integrity, and renewable energies, as well as preserve biodiversity in California.
  2. To develop improved mechanisms for evaluating environmental strategies, policy, and proposed technologies.
  3. To create unique educational opportunities for our students, corporate leaders, policymakers, and K-12 educators.
  4. To understand the roles of both locally and globally driven change in Southern California's environment.
  5. To contribute to California's quality of life and economy.