The Center for the Environment is an interdisciplinary hub of environmental research that is committed to generating transformative solutions to our deepest societal challenges including: climate change, air pollution, access to clean water, food insecurity, biodiversity loss and infectious diseases.
2025 Environmental Research and Creativity Week
By the numbers
111
Center scholars
21
Proposals/Grants supported
500+
Activity participants
181
Journal articles published
Jan-Oct 2024
The Center’s mission
The center serves as a cross-cutting collaboration hub, encouraging partners, faculty and students to advance research projects in areas including biodiversity, environmental justice, planetary health, environmental solutions, and climate change. Here’s a closer look at who we are, what we do, and why it matters for our community, our region and our world.
Featured research & stories
Environmental Research and Creativity Week planned
Washington University’s Center for the Environment, together with its partners, is gearing up for Environmental Research & Creativity Week, Feb. 24–28.
Researchers to develop energy-efficient process to convert waste gases into biofuel
Engineers at Washington University in St. Louis will be working to improve energy efficiency in production of that useful gas thanks to a $2.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
Nothin’ but pawpaws in the pawpaw patch
Pawpaw fruits — the largest native fruits in North America — have become popular among foragers and foodies alike, with their custard-like texture and a sweet flavor often described as a cross between a mango and a banana.
The WashU ecosystem
Within the WashU ecosystem of environmental research, education, and practice, the Center for the Environment serves as a connector. Much like a biodiversity corridor, we work to create space where our partners within the ecosystem and across distinct disciplines come together to address our world’s biggest environmental challenges.
In the news
A spaceship and a garden — Mildred Lane Kemper art exhibit says seeds contain the future
“Seeds: Containers of a World to Come” features the work of 10 artists from around the globe. Each work looks at the relationship between plants, humans and land.
Exploring Venus may require exotic tech like balloons and ‘aerobots’
Despite being a hellish world, the hot, cloud-enveloped world Venus is a tantalizing target for scientists eager to learn more about its history, evolution and present state.
New complexity emerges in Earth’s ‘boring’ middle region
Planetary CT scans and lab experiments reveal layering and intricate flows in the mantle.
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