Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Feng He works to improve climate models to tell us the future of our world.

Linnea Patterson in Bagaces, Costa Rica, at the Palo Verde Research Station.

Linnea Patterson, a graduate of our environmental observation and informatics program, works to use science to inform management decisions.

Erin Silva speaking at the UW Arlington Agricultural Research Station

Erin Silva promotes food sovereignty and security across Wisconsin’s Indigenous Tribes.

Audrey Stanton holding an inflatable globe.

PhD student Audrey Stanton is focused on supporting and encouraging younger generations working in sustainability fields.

The Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies is confronting global environmental challenges through imaginative research that transcends disciplinary boundaries, hands-on education that bridges classrooms and communities, and public programs that foster environmental conversations among people from business, government, academia, and advocacy.

Training Tomorrow's Environmental Leaders

The Nelson Institute values and is committed to a liberal arts and professional education, built on the premise that complex environmental issues can best be understood through familiarity with diverse perspectives, and integration of the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities.

Three students huddled close together taking close-up photos of plants

Undergraduate

Five students wearing life jackets near a lake

Graduate

Find a faculty advisor

Find an environmental job

Research That's Changing the World

Research drives the social and technological innovation needed to confront the challenges of a rapidly changing global environment. The Nelson Institute is a catalyst of imaginative research that combines skills and knowledge from the humanities, engineering, business, and law to the biological, physical, health, and social sciences.

A researcher about to release a weather balloon

Center for Climatic Research

A person looking at vintage papers

Center for Culture, History, and Environment

Grace Bulltail sampled water quality in a federal oil and gas field in Toole County, Montana.

Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment

A faculty researcher and student in a lab attaching a radio-frequency identification tag to a bumblebee

Center for Ecology and the Environment

We Embrace Diversity

The Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies embraces the critical importance of diversity and strives for a community that is supportive, welcoming, respectful, and inclusive of all individuals. Just as our environmental research, education, and service value a wide range of perspectives, our Nelson community is strengthened by the inclusion of historically marginalized people with a diversity of lived experiences and identities. We are deeply committed to working toward a sustainable future and facilitating culturally sensitive approaches to global environmental issues.

Engagement, Inclusivity, and Diversity

Nelson News and Events

Latest News

Upcoming Events

  • December 2024
  • January 2025
    • January 5
      Nature HikeArboretum1:00 PM, Meet at Visitor Center, UW–Madison Arboretum
    • January 5
      Family Nature WalkArboretum1:30 PM, Meet at Visitor Center, UW–Madison Arboretum
    • January 12
      Nature HikeArboretum1:00 PM, Meet at Visitor Center, UW–Madison Arboretum

Support the Nelson Institute

The Nelson Institute welcomes and is grateful for various forms of support – discretionary funds for our many programs, internships and mentoring opportunities for students, and introductions to new networks that can help advance our reach and build partnerships around Wisconsin and the world.

Make a gift today