Civic Ecology Lab Information

Civic Ecology Lab is founded on the belief that humans can act to enhance their communities and environment. We integrate research and public engagement to support stewardship, learning, and resilience in communities facing social and environmental stresses globally. The Civic Ecology Lab is located in the Department of Natural Resources and Environment at Cornell University, in upstate New York. Our members conduct engaged research and facilitate global online learning communities. We focus on the contributions of grassroots stewardship and education to climate mitigation, environmental enhancement, and individual and community health and wellbeing. We contribute to knowledge about the outcomes of, and interactions among, four components of a social-ecological system: community-based environmental stewardship (civic ecology practices); education and learning situated in these practices; the people, institutions, and governance systems involved; and the ecosystem services, including climate mitigation, produced by the people, their stewardship, and educational practices. We also focus on how small-scale stewardship and education efforts scale up to have broader impacts, including through applying research, institutional partnerships, and spread of behaviors in social networks. We work in New York City, Puerto Rico, China, and other locations. All our work integrates social equity and diversity with climate and environmental concerns.