Description

The major research foci of the Center are in the areas of interfacial chemistry, bionanotechnology, and environmental genomics. The Center will develop strong partnerships with government agencies (local, state, and federal), industry and the public. A key goal of the Center is to integrate science, ethics, and public policy. The Center will lead and coordinate a wide range of multi-disciplinary efforts focused on the following research thrusts:

• How do important hydrobiogeochemical processes, occurring at Critical Zone interfaces and over a range of spatial and temporal scales, govern long-term sustainability and ecosystem health of land and water resources?
• What technology is needed to better sense environmental events and processes in the Critical Zone?
• How does the sensing understanding of these environmental events and processes affect human health?

Mission

To develop a world class, leading edge research capability focused on the Earth’s life-sustaining, near surface environment (complex interactions of rock, soil, water, air and living organisms that regulate and populate the natural habitat)

Goals

• Tackle scientific questions of great societal and global significance by uniting a multi-disciplinary and diverse community of scientists/engineers and students
• Forge partnerships with government agencies, industry and the public to provide solutions to environmental challenges and to stimulate economic growth
• Integrate science, ethics and public policy

Principles

• The Center is independent and independently sustainable
• Research, in the environmentally important ‘Critical Zone,’ is the first level mission
• The research approach is interdisciplinary and interinstitutional
• The second level missions are to (1) improve the quality of the environment in Delaware by integrating research, development, safety, ethics and public policy, (2) create ‘green’ jobs and (3) contribute to educational curriculum development in the arena of complex environmental systems