School of Geography and the Environment

ECI is an interdisciplinary unit within Oxford University that undertakes research on environmental issues, teaches an MSc in Environmental Change and Management, and fosters university-wide networks and outreach on the environment.

Founded 1991 through benefactions, ECI was designed to answer questions about how and why the environment is changing and how can we respond through public policy, private enterprise, and social initiatives.

ECI research and teaching is characterised by a focus on global and regional environmental change, projects that bring together the natural and social sciences, and by an orientation to applied and public policy. Many of the research projects have a goal of influencing and informing public policy and decisions about the environment.

The Institute is currently organized around three major research themes - Climate, Energy, and Ecosystems - the latter two with close links to the School of Geography and the Environment (SoGE) research clusters: Climate Systems and Policy and Biodiversity .

Most ECI staff are full time researchers and scientists working on specific externally funded projects within these research themes although we also host a number of senior research fellows working more independently on cross-cutting issues.

The ECI is committed to:

• Train a new generation of environmental professionals
• Push environmental science beyond traditional research and educational frameworks
• Undertake integrated and collaborative research
• Create dynamic partnerships with Government, Business, NGO's and the public
• Inform public and corporate policy and the wider community
• Make our research insights accessible to all

Professor Diana Liverman, ECI Director.
On leave of absence during 2009