Environmental Science and Design Research Institute

Image for Earth Stanzas

The Center for Earth Ethics at Union Theological Seminary in New York City and the Wick Poetry Center at Kent State University are launching Earth Stanzas, an interactive poetry project in honor of Earth Day, which is celebrated around the world on April 22. Earth Stanzas draws on the inspiration of eight poets who engage the beauty, depth and interconnectedness of the Earth, and invites readers to interact with the poems and find their own poetic voice.

BioBlack Team Poses with their bacteria-dyed tote bad and dress dyed with bacterium

The words “biology” and “design” might not typically intertwine; however, Kent State University’s Biodesign Challenge course was created to challenge the idea that the two separate disciplines could not collaborate.

Lauren Kinsman-Costello, assistant professor of biological sciences at Kent State, stands in a field in the arctic circle, in Sweden.

In early February, scientists reported the hottest temperature on record in Antarctica: 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Studies show climate change is disproportionately affecting the poles, warming them faster than anywhere else on Earth, and raising questions about what kinds of changes we can expect in arctic ecosystems as temperatures rise. 
A Kent State University biologist has teamed up with some colleagues in an inter-institutional effort to answer some of those questions.


Erie, Pennsylvania, community members gather with CUDC students

When cities need help imagining new possibilities for their urban places and communities, they call Kent State University’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative (CUDC). Most recently, Kent State architecture students had the opportunity to put the skills they learn in the classroom to make an impact on local communities in Erie, Pennsylvania.

The FSStore's new line features sustainable fashions, accessories and home goods made by Fashion School students and faculty

Kent State University’s Fashion School continuously finds ways to innovate. Its unique lifestyle boutique, Fashion School Store (FSStore), in downtown Kent recently added a new line called “Sustainability RETOLD.” This collection includes sustainably made clothing, featuring work from five different students and three faculty.

Kent State geology undergraduate student Nicolle Di Domenico positions an ASD Field Spec HH2Pro spectroradiometer over the side of the commercial fishing vessel Reel Deal, the research platform at the Toledo Harbor Lighthouse.

After years of remote sensing work, Joseph Ortiz, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Geology in the College of Arts and Sciences at Kent State University, and his research team recently shared their development of new cost-efficient methodologies that may lead to much safer drinking water for people in Ohio and other municipalities affected by harmful algal blooms (HAB).