Cutting Edge Research

We generate knowledge and provide solutions for regional and global environmental problems.

Faculty Across Campus

We drive interdisciplinary environment and sustainability initiatives on campus.

Experts in their respective fields, faculty join IoES because they value working across disciplines and are committed to seeking effective solutions for creating a sustainable human society. IoES currently has more than 80 faculty representing over 24 units across UCLA from:

Academic Programs

We educate the next generation of professional and scientific leadership committed to the health of the planet.

Our programs and courses draw upon UCLA's vast intellectual resources from one of the most talented and accomplished faculty in the world. The IoES enhances student training by presenting environmental issues within a broad, interdisciplinary framework.

Community Partners

We advise businesses and policymakers on sustainability and the environment.

IoES faculty and staff have worked with or advised many local, state, national and foreign agencies and non-profit organizations on environmental and sustainability issues. Here are just a few:

Corporate Partners

We advise businesses and policymakers on sustainability and the environment.

With its Corporate Partners Program IoES has established a new model for collaboration and communication on environment and sustainability issues – fostering interactive relationships between companies and UCLA faculty, researchers, students and other firms to explore the latest business opportunities in environment and sustainability, corporate environmental performance, successful eco-marketing strategy and promotion of companies' environmental initiatives.

Learn more about the Corporate Partners Program

Public Programs

We inform and encourage community discussion about critical environmental issues.

We sponsor a variety of public programs, lectures and conferences and co-sponsor many events on and off campus in partnership with campus and community organizations.

Oppenheim Lectures

La Kretz Center Conservation Lectures

We also produce the Southern California Environmental Report Card which draws on the expertise of UCLA faculty to analyze current environmental issues. Its goal is to present scientific data in a format useful to the general public and to stimulate debate on policies intended to protect natural resources and public health.

Join our email list to stay informed about upcoming events, and browse our videos and podcasts to experience past events.

History

The UCLA Institute of the Environment (IoE) was created in 1997 as a campus-wide Center for Interdisciplinary Instruction coupled with a research center. This umbrella organization was formed to (1) develop world-class interdisciplinary academic programs spanning the full breadth of environmental issues, (2) support existing environment-related research activities at UCLA and stimulate interdisciplinary collaborative research programs, and (3) strengthen UCLA's public outreach to policy makers, public agencies and private businesses and organizations through collaborative environmental problem-solving.

IoE was housed initially in Hershey Hall and, thanks to a generous gift from Morton La Kretz, in 2005 moved into its current home in La Kretz Hall–the first LEED–certified green building on campus.

In 2010, the IoE formally changed its name to the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability (IoES) to reflect the rapidly increasing importance of sustainability science in the academic, policy and commerce spheres. Sustainability, which integrates environmental, economic and social considerations, represents a positive, more collaborative and integrated approach to problem solving than a traditional natural resources view of the environment.