Preparing to meet the challenges of a changing planet is no small task; shifts in agricultural production, increased size and severity of wildfires, reduced water quality, and severe health impacts from wildfire smoke and summer heat are only a few of the difficulties Idaho faces in an increasingly warmer future.
Boise State already has the expertise and background to help solve the most pressing issue of our time: climate change. The causes, consequences and solutions to climate change cross disciplinary boundaries, schools and colleges. However, Boise State currently lacks the administrative support and structure needed to promote and support transformative research, effective teaching, and unified community outreach in the arena of climate literacy.
Through this proposed Endowed Center, located within the new School of the Environment, Boise State will deliver the research, teaching, and community-driven engagement needed to address this Grand Challenge. We will provide our students with the background to understand the causes, consequences, and solutions to global climate change and its impacts. We will actively engage in stakeholder-driven outreach to K-12 schools and communities to provide the tools, training, and skills that Idahoans need to promote proactive resilience within their own community. We will conduct state-of-the-art research to transform our systems of land use and energy. Addressing these challenges will expand our innovative ecosystem, further our educational mission though research, and produce graduates who will be the next generation of leaders in climate solutions.
Do you want to be involved? Does your teaching, research, or outreach intersect with this proposed center? Then contact Jen Pierce (Geosciences) jenpierce@boisestate.edu, 208-426-5380
To learn more, you can visit i-CLEER’s website for more information.
“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” — Native American Proverb