The Environmental Science and Design Research Institute (ESDRI) is dedicated to research and investigations within natural, human, and built systems, as we develop innovative knowledge, products, and solutions to address local, regional, and global issues.
Students: The institute aims to build research skills in students, in order to cultivate well-rounded, critical thinking professionals. ESDRI recognizes the professional and personal importance of students having foundational research skills and knowledge, which is facilitated through a variety of workshops, speakers, service projects, symposia, special events, Q&A sessions, laboratory tours, and more. The institute supports undergraduates – academically and financially – through its Fellows Program, in hopes of mentoring a new generation of scholars.
Colleges represented within ESDRI include:
- Aeronautics and Engineering
- Applied and Technical Studies
- Architecture and Environmental Design
- The Arts
- Arts and Sciences
- Communication and Information
- Education, Health and Human Services
- Nursing
- Public Health
By empowering environmental research, the institute aims to foster change by drawing from robust, well-informed science and design or extrapolating on the research ourselves. ESDRI encourages students, faculty, and the greater community to understand and leverage the interacting geological, biological, human, economical, cultural, and social systems around us. These overlapping systems impact and regulate the availability of resources (e.g. pure water, clean air, and food), sustain diversity of life on Earth, promote well-being, and affect all of us in our daily life.
Environmental Science and Design Research Institute acknowledges that Kent State University, including the institute, is located on lands previously inhabited by people of the Delaware, Erie, Kaskaskia, Miami, Ottawa, Seneca-Cayuga, Shawnee, and Wyandot tribes. We pay respect to their past, present, and future.
