Binghamton University
AC-10: Support for Sustainability Research

Our Freshman Research Immersion (FRI) program provides first-year students interested in science, math, and engineering with an intensive research experience over three semesters. Students can choose one of ten FRI research streams. Four streams have a direct connection to sustainability: clean energy, biogeochemistry, community & global public health, microbial biofilms in human health, and environmental visualization. Students are incentivized to apply to these streams through the opportunity to have publishable results, make a real impact, and develop valuable skills. The outcomes of this program include rapid expansion through internal support and external grant monies. From an initial cohort of 90 students in three research streams (30 per stream) in 2014-2015, there are now 300 students in 10 streams. We have expanded this program to the humanities and social sciences focused SOURCE program, which has 5 current streams including Mapping American Prejudice and People, Politics, and the Environment. As with the FRI program, SOURCE students are engaged in hands-on social sciences and humanities research during their first year.

Binghamton University also has a Master's Degree program in Sustainable Communities. The program integrates the three pillars of sustainability- environmental protection, economic vitality and social equity – to provide a balanced, holistic perspective to managing local governments, non-profit organizations and other parts of the community. The program includes faculty and students from Anthropology, Geology, Geography, Environmental Studies, and Public Administration. At completion, students receive either a Master of Arts or Master of Science degree.

the University established six transdisciplinary areas of excellence, three of which include research areas related to sustainability (Sustainable Communities, Smart Energy, and Citizenship, Rights and Cultural Belonging). There have been at least 25 faculty hired to be affiliated with these TAEs who are expected to contribute research. The University also established a seed grant program and has made 114 seed grants to these three TAEs from 2013-2022, totaling over $1.3m that contribute to the success of their faculty.

To ensure that Binghamton makes the most of this rare opportunity, the Provost will allocate a significant portion of these new faculty positions to six transdisciplinary areas of research and scholarship in which the University has significant existing strength and can achieve international prominence.
Two areas — health sciences and smart energy — emerged in 2010-11, as Binghamton developed its NYSUNY 2020 proposal. Three others were identified by a faculty committee appointed jointly by the Provost and the Faculty Senate Executive Committee: citizenship, rights, and cultural belonging; material and visual worlds; sustainable communities, and data science.
All six areas of excellence address critical social, scientific, technological, economic, cultural, and policy issues. By hiring faculty from a variety of disciplines to explore them, Binghamton will develop solutions to complex and consequential problems. We invite you to learn more about each of these five Transdisciplinary Areas of Excellence.

the library has developed and makes publicly available subject guides on its website in areas related to sustainability research such as sustainable communities and environmental studies. These guides provide databases, reports, government and other organizational links, campus and community organizations and search key words to aid research and learning in the subject areas.