Since 1967, Rensselaer’s Darrin Fresh Water Institute has conducted research that has increased public awareness of environmental issues and has contributed answers to complex questions concerning the protection of our land, water, and air. What began as a research field station based on Lake George as part of the Department of Biological Sciences was elevated in 2015 to become an Institute-wide Center at Rensselaer. This transition recognized the growth of DFWI in the environmental research questions being addressed and the breadth of expert collaborators spanning the entire Rensselaer campus as well as faculty from other universities.
Collectively, our mission is to create a world-class Center that examines basic and applied environmental issues and to inform decision makers regarding the causes and consequences of human activities on the environment. We will do this by taking a holistic and integrated approach that merges science, engineering, and the arts to help inform the region and the world about how aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems operate, the impacts of human activities on these ecosystems, and potential mitigation strategies to slow or reverse these human impacts.