The faculty in the Department of Environmental Science and Studies are active researchers in a variety of areas. Our faculty are committed to providing research opportunities for our students. Areas of scholarship represented include:
- Impact of invasive species on ecosystem function
- Impact of ecological restoration on prairie and wetland function
- Estimation of litter and coarse woody debris inputs into a degraded Urban Wetland
- Soil fauna associated with the roots of invasive species
- Evaluation of success of ecosystem management
- Urban ecosystem valuation
- Urban soil quality analysis
- Combining invasive species management with bioenergy production
- Does European Buckthorn increase the nitrogen in urban forest soils?
- Taxonomic survey of soil arthropods in the Chicago area
- Phosphorous dynamics and hydrologic budgets in freshwater marshes
- Impact of drought stress on isoprene emissions
- Isoprene emissions from a oak-dominated forest in the central United States
- Carbon dioxide profiles using a high-altitude balloon platform
- Carbon sequestration in Great Lakes coastal wetlands
- Ecological economics, life cycle analysis, and sustainable use of natural resources
- Environmental education: perceptions and understanding of the value of biological diversity
- Paleoecological interactions of marine vertebrates during the “Age of Dinosaurs”
- Paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Sea of North America
- Biostratigraphy and paleogeography of Mesozoic fishes and marine reptiles
Environmental Science and Studies is located in the Andrew J. McGowan building, a four-story LEED certified, state-of-the-art science facility that opened in 2009. This building features more than 30 labs for classroom instruction and research, lecture halls, study lounges, rooftop greenhouses and a green roof. The Department of Environmental Science and Studies houses the DePaul Center for Nature and Culture. Our faculty collaborate with members of the nearly 300 member Chicago Wilderness Biodiversity Consortium on research and educational projects.
We offer exceptional research opportunities for undergraduates. We also partner with other programs at DePaul, including the College of Education and the Driehaus College of Business to provide enhanced opportunities for our students.