Office of Sustainability and the Environment | College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

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

Students tossing graduation caps on Pentacrest at sunset

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

Students help sort waste at President's Block Party

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

Marcelo Mena meets King Charles with a group of people watching in the background

Iowa Engineering Alumnus Engages King Charles III on Methane Solutions

Tuesday, July 14, 2026

Clear Creek Amana students gather around the Anne Frank sapling on the Pentacrest for a group photo.

Students Connect Anne Frank, Trees, Nature, and Well-being

Thursday, July 2, 2026

Iowa City Donation Drive-Thru scheduled for July 19

Thursday, July 2, 2026

Events

Vcologies 2026

Friday, September 25 to Saturday, September 26, 2026 (all day)

English-Philosophy Building

Co-sponsored by the Obermann Center.

Vcologies (Victorian Ecologies Today) is an interdisciplinary, international collective of scholars committed to the environmental humanities, the energy humanities, and other ecology-focused approaches.

Vcologies 2026

Friday, Sept. 25: Gerber Lounge (304 EPB)

9-10:30 a.m.: Session One: Energy

Siobhan Carroll, “Equiano and the Fishes: Romantic Energy Systems and Slavery at Sea”

Devin Griffiths, “; Or, the Whale”

Michael Tondre, “Aesthetic Disfiguration: A Short...

Critters, Crawlers, and Creepers, Oh My! (Private Event for SEES Undergrads + Graduate Students)

Saturday, September 26, 2026 9:30am to 12:00pm

Ashton Cross Country Course

The Pentacrest Museum and Ashton Prairie groups are hosting a private event for SEES' undergraduate and graduate students. It will be on Saturday, September 26th from 9:30-10:30 AM (at Ashton Cross Country Course) and 11:00 AM-12:00 PM at the Museum of Natural History. The half hour is to account for travel time.

The event is focusing on a Bug Scavenger Hunt at the prairie. Then the group will go to the museum and get a behind the scenes tour of the prep lab and a tour of the insect collection...