Earth Systems Interactions
Observe the dynamics of earth systems interactions through climate, hydrologic, and land use systems study at landscape to global scales. Earth systems research often requires the use of spatially explicit data and capabilities such as remote sensing and geographic information systems combined with modeling in ways that address policy at relevant scales. Study of the earth system may involve historical analysis and forecasts of earth system interactions across years, decades or millennia via simulation models which may need to be implemented on supercomputers.

Green Technology
Innovate changes in daily life through material production and process development that provide a healthy quality of life without compromising the ecosystem, human health, or the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Green technology includes life cycle analysis, source reduction, resilience engineering, and responsible decision making which can simultaneously promote economic development within the context of environmental stewardship. Compelling issues in green technology include new means of generating and evaluating energy and energy efficiency, environmentally friendly and energy efficient building materials, chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate use and generation of hazardous substances, and green nanotechnology.

Human Impacts on Biosphere Processes
Assess human activity on natural ecosystem health and resources including water quality, quantity, and movement, soil health, air quality, and biodiversity. Both deliberate and inadvertent human practices have led to smog, ozone thinning, acid rain, habitat destruction, loss of biodiversity, invasive species, water quality impairment and water wars, the energy crisis, and resource depletion, which have threatened our long-term health and the planet on which we depend. Biosphere studies involve geology, ecology, soils, atmospheric processes and climate, hydrological sciences, and biogeochemistry. Impacts of current concern include climate change, endocrine disruption, human health, and water wars.

Managed Ecosystems
Apply cross-disciplinary approaches to ecological and environmental assessment and management of complex ecosystems including agriculturally-dominant landscapes, forests, wetlands, conservation lands and refuges. The focus is on understanding process dynamics in open systems with spatio-temporal variation in the intrinsically coupled biological, physical, and social processes. Examples of current areas of importance are environmental and socio-economic consequences of intensive land use for bioenergy production, adaptation to climate change and its impacts on human and ecosystem health, carbon cycling and sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems, mitigation strategies for degraded wetlands, and ecological restoration of riverine and prairie systems within managed ecosystems.

Sustainable Urban Environments
Design urban communities that provide a high quality life-style that meets the needs of more people with a reduced carbon and ecological footprint. Ecologically friendly and healthy urban environments require integration of innovative multi-functional energy efficient buildings, healthy personal and public transportation systems, appropriate accessible green space, integration of local food systems, and incorporation of the natural environment into interior and exterior living space. Sustainable urban ecosystems foster physical and mental well-being, individual economic prosperity, more efficient per capita consumption of water and energy, a higher return on public investment in municipal infrastructure and more opportunities for development of creative and ecologically responsible non-renewable materials cycling and natural resource utilization.