The challenge is to link relevant science and research with communities and decision-makers to develop strategies that promote economic development and human well being without degrading natural resources and the environment.

Since 1994, with support from the CNR, government agencies, alumni, foundations and the corporate sector, the Center has sponsored or co-sponsored a wide range of research, educational and outreach activities in its core program areas, including:

• UC Berkeley international conferences on Biotechnology and the Public Interest, Carbon Sequestration & Climate Change, Population & the Environment, Economics of Water Markets in the American West, among others;
• a joint UC Berkeley/UC Davis initiative to identify alternatives for a sustainable future for California's Central Valley, focusing on leading-edge bio and information technologies;
• EPA indicators of environmental quality to enable the design and implementation of priority strategies to restore the San Francisco Bay-Delta;
• a HUD-supported "Environmental Watch" Program linking together urban schools and communities with CNR environmental scientists to promote gardening, greening & environmental stewardship;
• a campus-wide initiative for short-term courses and non-degree certificate programs for international students in the area of Environmental Management and Economic Development;
• coordination and implementation of one of Russia's major science and agriculture projects, extending the US land grant model to Pushchino State University;
• cross-departmental forums, including symposia, seminars, panels, working groups, and courses aimed at increasing faculty inter-disciplinary collaboration from CNR and the wider UC community;
• an undergraduate upper division course and seminar series on Population, Resources & the Environment;
• promotion of participatory research on community forestry through the Ford Foundation US Community Forestry Research Fellowship Program; and
• production of ten educational videos on different environmental management and sustainable development issues.

1. build an interdisciplinary, integrated approach within the College of Natural Resources and the wider UC community on policy-oriented research and outreach on environmental and resource issues in California, the nation and around the globe;
2. train new generations of leaders in the US and globally who are capable of applying a broad range of environmental knowledge and methods to problem solving, and of finding common ground among diverse, increasingly polarized, interests;
3. improve understanding of the interactions of human and natural systems and the trade-offs involved in addressing efficiency, equity and conservationist objectives;
4. identify principles and institutional innovations for public, private and community management of natural resources in self-sustaining ways; and
5. enhance public policy on the environment by providing relevant science, policy expertise, and innovations for timely feedback from clients, interactive learning and adaptive responses.

CSRD has seven core program areas: Agriculture Policy & Resource Management, Communities & Natural Resource Management, Global Environment, Pest Management, Population & the Environment, Technology & Innovation, and Water. For brief descriptions of the Center's approach to these areas and a list of specific projects with individual web pages go to Quick Links or Projects.


 

CSRD is administered by an Academic Coordinator and two Faculty Co-directors (go to People for biographical sketches), reporting to the Associate Dean of Research of the College of Natural Resources. The Center staff is fluid - increasing as necessary to run its various programs. CSRD works closely with the CNR Media Unit to develop its multi-media outputs.