Many of our projects focus on environmental change as the key factor for understanding how we help manage and conserve our precious global environment worldwide. Environmental changes stemming from natural disasters, human activity or ecological processes can shape the availability of natural resources, the abundance and distribution of the islands’ flora and fauna, and the interaction between humans and their environment. The Galapagos provides an ideal laboratory for understanding these issues in other settings around the world.
Our projects include topics in:
- Natural Hazards
- One Health
- Hydrology & Water Management
- Earth Systems Modeling
- Climate Change, Adaptation & Mitigation
Watch this video about a research project studying the effects of ocean temperature on the food web:
Research Projects
Lessons from the Environmental Resistome in Galapagos: A One Health Perspective
People: Alyssa Grube and Jill Stewart
Departments: Environmental Sciences & Engineering
High Resolution, Commercial Satellite Imagery for Island Studies
People: Steve Walsh, Laura Brewington, Yang Shao, Francisco Laso, and Phil Page
Departments: Geography
Synthesis of Drivers, Patterns, and Trajectories of LCLUC in Island Ecosystems, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
People: Steve Walsh, Francisco Laso, Richard Bilsborrow, Brian Frizzelle, Laura Brewington, Yang Shao, Hernando Mattei, and Phil Page
Departments: Geography
Water Cycling and Critical Zone Processes in the Tropics: The Galapagos as a Natural Laboratory
People: Xiaoming Liu and Diego Riveros-Iregui
Departments: Geological Sciences, Geography
Evaluation of the hydrological cycle and its effects on vegetation and soil formation in San Cristobal, Galapagos
People: Diego Riveros-Iregui, Elizabeth Anne Shank, Will Larsen, Sarah May Yannarell, Alexi Van Ess, Jia Hu, Alex Beebe, Courtney Price, Caroline MacVicar, and Katarzyna M. Dubiel
Departments: Geography
Using the distribution, habitat use, and diet of rodents to inform the restoration of native fauna on Isla Santiago
People: Carlos Carrión, Paul Taillie, Ana Carrión, Daniel Armijos Vega, and Cristian Sevilla
Departments: Geography
Explore other areas of research: Biodiversity, Community & Human Health, Conservation, and Oceans.