Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability and the Environment

Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability and the Environment is a cross-college entity at the University of Kentucky whose goal is to facilitate interdisciplinary efforts of faculty on campus to create transformative, new approaches to various environmental and sustainability issues that relate to today's grand challenge: providing the food, energy, and water necessary to support an expanding global population in a sustainable manner in the face of a changing climate.

Working Groups

We develop and support inter- and transdisciplinary working groups focused on solving important contemporary challenges in environmental and sustainability science and policy. Through these problem/topic based working groups, TFISE provides a platform to encourage transdisciplinary research, curriculum development, and/or academic and community engagement.  Working groups are dynamic entities, and current examples include:

• Built Environment
• Food Systems Initiative
• Sustainable Nanotechnology
• Urban Forest Initiative
• Water Systems

A long-term goal is for the working group to become UK's resident experts in specific areas related to environmental and sustainability science and policy as well as to serve as a resource for the academic and corporate communities, and the general public.