Tahoe Institute for Global Sustainability

Creating sustainable solutions across the globe

Utilizing the University of Nevada, Reno’s Lake Tahoe campus as a living laboratory, the Tahoe Institute for Global Sustainability develops public engagement and research programs that address environmental and societal challenges. The Institute fosters interdisciplinary collaboration, trains early career professionals and delivers innovative, actionable solutions through partnerships and critical discourse.

Our mission

Develop and implement sustainability-focused research and public engagement programs that will drive innovation to find solutions to challenges facing the environment and society and develop paths toward creating a better world for future generations. The Tahoe Institute for Global Sustainability will be a transformational, positive force in our community, state, nation, and the world.

Our mission and focus align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals which seeks to bring economic prosperity, peace, and reduce inequity in our society while sustaining our environment and tackling the grand challenges of our time including climate change, conserving biodiversity, reducing pollution, and promoting healthy ecosystems.

The Institute creates world-class opportunities to develop an engaged and inclusive workforce through the training of early career scholars with interests in the sustainability of the environment and society. It will facilitate community engagement from local to global gatherings across the sciences, engineering, art, humanities, and journalism while promoting discourse, critical thinking, and collaboration across interested parties to solve society's pressing challenges.

Recent news from the Institute

Warmer temperatures giving you that gardening itch?

University of Nevada, Reno experts offer research-based answers for Nevada’s gardening challenges

A group of scientists from the workshops stand on a boat out on Lake Tahoe.

University of Nevada, Reno convenes global experts to safeguard the world’s largest trout

Leading scientists, conservationists, tribal representatives and students from around the world addressed urgent conservation challenges facing the largest trout species on Earth

A cross country skier skis uphill with snowy mountains in the background.

Ask the professor: what makes Tahoe snow so unique?

State Climatologist and Professor Baker Perry answers questions about the science of snow in the Sierras, and how different weather patterns affect local snowpacks

Campus collaborations

A jar of small, preserved fish with a specimen label.

Museum of Natural History

Located on the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno, the Museum of Natural History holds irreplaceable specimens of plants and animals used in research, teaching, and outreach.

Aerial view of snow and forest surrounding Lake Tahoe.

Graduate Program of Hydrologic Sciences

The University's hydrology program focuses on studies of water in the environment including its role in geologic and biogeochemical processes, ecosystem functions, and climate science.

A researcher wearing a backpack using equipment outdoors in the Great Basin.

Hitchcock Center for Chemical Ecology

Conducting high-quality research focused on some of the most important basic and applied questions in chemistry, biology, and ecology, with the guiding themes of understanding chemical and biological diversity in the tropics and bio-prospecting in Nevada’s Great Basin.

The goal is real impact.

Tackling hard-hitting, complex projects with teams of experts using proven data-driven methods and working with private industry, the Tahoe Institute for Global Sustainability engineers win-win solutions for the environment.

Meet the team

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Explore our research

Our approach

Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach to implement sustainability programming, we focus on solving our globes pressing issues through the following:

Fostering partnerships: Strengthen connections and collaborations across institutions: Universities, government and civil society organizations, and private industry and corporations.
Brokering information: Utilize the University as an "honest intermediary" that brings cutting edge scientific information and creative scholarships to solve issues and develops consensus based solutions with organizations, and serve as a hub for public dialogue and expert discussions on sustaining society and the environment.
Developing a new generation of scholars: Nurture the next generation of early career trainees and a global citizenry that want to reach "beyond the ivory tower" and create interdisciplinary-solutions to large-scale and long-term problems inhibiting our ability to sustain society and the environment.
Showcasing what works: Share partnerships and models that work to solve the grand challenges of our time and document approaches those that need improvements.