Focus Areas
Loyola's School of Environmental Sustainability is developing interdisciplinary research teams to focus on our century's most vexing environmental problems. These collaborative research groups will concentrate on the following themes.
![people walking in a forest people walking in a forest](/media/lucedu/sustainability-new/2022images/researchfocusareas/Biodiversity.jpg)
Biodiversity
This group explores the drivers of biodiversity loss and strategies for conserving and restoring ecosystem function through basic and applied research, habitat management, teaching, and community partnerships.
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Environment & Society
This group explores how economic, political, and cultural systems interact with the natural world. Team members work to understand interconnected ecological and social problems and develop solutions that promote social justice and protect the environment.
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Environmental Health & Toxicology
This group investigates how pollution, pesticide exposure, and other types of environmental degradation impact human health. Participating researchers also develop strategies for mitigating these threats.
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Sustainable Food Systems
Unsustainable agricultural practices can devastate the environment, but ecologically sound food production is possible. Researchers in this group are developing new approaches to make food systems more sustainable while expanding access to healthy food.
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Climate and Energy
Climate change is a complex and pressing global issue that will require solutions informed by multiple disciplines, including science, economics, politics, sociology, and ethics. This group works to make those solutions a reality.
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