A Message from the Chair

The department of environmental studies has a unique opportunity at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. We focus on appropriate science, decision tools and engagement in environmental decision making. Our work includes the complex and often intractable issues facing Las Vegas:

• Sustainable development in an area where population is growing rapidly yet we have to water our cactus to keep it alive
• Land use management in a region with vast areas of federally managed lands and historical inattention to planning
• Public concern and scientific uncertainty in a state facing the legacy of the Nevada Test Site and the future of Yucca Mountain

We do not, however, restrict ourselves to southern Nevada issues. Our faculty engage in environmental modeling and policy design across the nation and the globe. From exploring water resource issues in Massachusetts and Micronesia to promoting climate change education to developing broadly applicable geostatistical methods, we bring diverse, interdisciplinary perspectives to our scholarship. Our students learn, practice, research and develop the skills and knowledge necessary to contribute to environmental policy and management at any level. We maintain an intimate, intellectual learning environment in a town that can be anything but. Which is why we say if we can do it here Please come join in our efforts!

— David M. Hassenzahl, PhD
Chair and Associate Professor

David M. Hassenzahl
Chair and Associate Professor