Mission

EnviroLab is an initiative at the Claremont Colleges funded by the Henry Luce Foundation’s Luce Initiative on Asian Studies and the Environment (LIASE) Program. This initiative is a laboratory for cross-disciplinary research and experiential learning that links knowledge with practice. 

Through intellectual exchange between the humanities and social sciences, environmental analysis, and other disciplines, we explore relevant topics and generate new scholarship about environmental issues in Asia. Our research involves communities and partner institutions in the US and Asia. We aim to address environmental problems in Asia through interdisciplinary communication and collaboration in a globalized world. 

Guiding Principles

EnviroLab activities center around the following set of guiding principles:

• Create a space for the production of new knowledge about the interaction between nature, the built environment, and human populations in Asia
• Utilize cross-disciplinary approaches
• Encourage 5C exchanges between and across campuses, utilize the current resources at the Claremont Colleges, and/or encourage community-building between and among 5C campus communities
• Increase faculty and students’ capacities to effectively influence debates on environmental issues as well as present innovative solutions to challenges resulting from environmental problems.

Research Projects – Past & Ongoing

EnviroLab supports faculty development by providing funding for publication, research, and other project activities. There are five different “entry-point” fund areas faculty may apply to: Conference Travel Fund; Research Pods; Research Labs; Course Development; and the Continuing Course/Speakers’ Fund. Faculty may also apply to the Manuscript Review or Subvention Funds to support the completion of an academic product (article, art piece, or book). These funds are designed to have a clear purpose while remaining flexible, in order to allow for innovations and collaborations to occur.