Office of Sustainability and the Environment

Students looking at insects through a microscope

Solving Grand Challenges

Balancing human and environmental wellbeing.

Welcome to the Office of Sustainability and the Environment (OSE)

The OSE serves as a central resource for integrating sustainability into the University of Iowa’s operations, academics, research, and community engagement. Through collaborative partnerships, innovative initiatives, and educational opportunities, the OSE connects the campus community and empowers Hawkeyes to make informed decisions that drive meaningful, lasting impact.

Students observing water samples from a creek

Find Sustainability Degrees and Research Programs

Search sustainability-related majors, minors, certificates, and research centers

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Add a Sustainability Certificate to Any Major

Give your resume a competitive edge with practical, future-focused skills employees are looking for

Take a Sustainability focused Course

Find a Class

Explore Sustainability Initiatives at UI

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See Waste Information

Bee campus sign in front of pollinator garden at Catlett/Chemistry

Explore Outdoor Spaces

Student holding earth everyday sign on Pentacrest

Find Jobs and Internships

Office of Sustainability staff give away plants at UI Library patio

Sustainable Living Tips

News

Go-At It Land Stewardship Provides New Goatscaping Option for Eastern Iowa

Thursday, November 6, 2025

Biomedical Sustainability Initiative Banner

The Biomedical Sustainability Initiative: Making Environmental Change in the World of Research

Tuesday, October 28, 2025

Emma Skelley

Galls, thieves, and parasites: Iowa biologists unspool wild world of oak-dwelling wasps

Friday, October 17, 2025

Events

Digital Scholarship & Publishing Fellowship Application Workshop

Tuesday, December 2, 2025 1:00pm to 2:00pm

University of Iowa Main Library

Please join staff from the Digital Scholarship & Publishing Studio for an upcoming Summer Fellowship Application Workshop. The workshop will be held in 1015A LIB (the Studio's classroom) and take place on Tuesday, Dec. 2. from 1 to 2 p.m. We'll share best practices for application writing and submission, upcoming deadlines to be aware of, and more!

Environmental Engineering and Science Graduate Seminar

Friday, December 5, 2025 1:30pm to 2:20pm

Seamans Center

Jesus Gomez-Velez, Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Iowa, will be presenting, Hydrologic Connectivity and Ecosystem Function: Implications for Quantifying Whole-Stream Metabolism.

Devastation of a coastal aquifer from the most powerful storm ever: a story of resilience and recovery

Friday, December 12, 2025 1:30pm to 2:30pm

Stanley Hydraulics Laboratory

The northwest Pacific Ocean is a hot spot for sea level rise and increasing frequency of stronger storms. It is where Supertyphoon Haiyan formed, the strongest storm on record to hit land, which provided a window into the hydrologic impacts of an extreme storm.

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