Floods. Drought. Invasive species. These are real problems facing Hoosiers and citizens around the globe. Researchers with IU's Environmental Resilience Institute are conducting on-site research in nearly half of Indiana’s 92 counties to accurately predict changes in climate, groundwater systems, vegetation, wildlife and more. They are working to accelerate the adoption of climate solutions in Hoosier communities and are training the next generation of climate leaders.
Addressing environmental change
Featured stories
Combating urban heat exposure
Significant thermal disparities exist among predominantly white, Black, Hispanic and Asian communities in America’s 200 most populous cities, according to new research from IUPUI's Daniel Johnson.
Learn about the study
Protecting our youth
Exposure to lead in drinking water, especially from private wells, during early childhood is associated with an increased risk of being reported for delinquency during teenage years, according to a study by IU researchers.
Read more about the work
Staying competitive
Companies around the globe have become more energy efficient and sustainable, thanks to the work of Kelley School of Business researcher Amrou Awaysheh and his students.
Learn more about their work2 in 3Hoosiers support university-led efforts to make Indiana more environmentally resilient
#2is IUPUI's ranking in the U.S. for its commitment to the UN's Sustainability Development Goals
11local governments and a regional coalition partnering with IU's Environmental Resilience Institute to take action on climate change
Description of the video:
[Video: Fades in from black and Alex Jahn is shown speaking outside as lower thirds graphic including his name and affiliation appears]
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Alex Jahn speaks: Birds are responding to environmental change in a variety of ways.
[Video: Exterior night, bird sits on top of post birdhouse]
Alex Jahn speaks in voiceover: This year's research and 2021 is focused on
[Video: Exterior day, pan as Alex Jahn straightens out netting]
Alex Jahn speaks in voiceover: continuing the research we began last year here. First of all, by recovering the GPS tags that we put out-
[Video: Alex Jahn is shown speaking]
Alex Jahn speaks: in 2020. To collect the migration data.
[Video: High angle shot of Alex Jahn and colleague untangling bird form netting]
[Video: Low angle close up of one Alex Jahn untangling bird from netting]
Alex Jahn speaks in voiceover: And second of all, to resample those birds for disease. Because what we really want to understand-
[Video: Alex Jahn is shown speaking]
Alex Jahn speaks: to get a handle on the disease dynamics of Robins is -
[Video: High angle close up of hands untangling robin from netting]
[Video: Alex Jahn and colleague walk away from camera towards parking garage]
[Video: Slow zoom in on still image of GPS tracker tied onto a robin]
[Video: Still image of robin migration paths across the U.S.]
[Video: Alex Jahn releases robin into mulched plant bed]
[Video: Longshot of robins in grass]
Alex Jahn speaks in voiceover: what individual robins are doing month to month. The way we're studying Robin movements is through GPS tags that we put on their backs to study their daily movements throughout the year. We'll put a tag on our Robin here, the IU Bloomington campus now in spring and then it'll migrate or maybe not this coming winter. And we'll recover that tag next spring,
[Video: Alex Jahn is shown speaking]
Alex Jahn speaks: download the data and be able to study its entire migratory journey that way.
[Video: Alex Jahn looks up at the sky though binoculars]
[Video: Alex Jahn is shown speaking corresponding to the voiceover]
[Video: Alex Jahn examines robin]
[Video: Closeup of Alex Jahn examining a robin’s chin]
[Video: Alex Jahn removing GPS tracker from a robin]
[Video: Closeup of Alex Jahn removing accelerometer from ties]
[Video: Closeup of Alex Jahn’s hands labeling accelerometer]
Alex Jahn speaks in voiceover: And combined with that, we'll have this disease data to go along with it. If it picked up a disease while it was wintering grounds and then it brought it back to Indiana. In addition to the GPS tags, we're putting accelerometers. These are activity monitors basically developed right here in the engineering department. The tag will tell us minute-to-minute whether the bird was resting or a foraging or flying,
[Video: Alex Jahn shown speaking]
Alex Jahn speaks: And what that will tell us is how-
[Video: Alex Jahn and colleague record data on paper at an outdoor table covered in equipment]
[Video: Alex Jahn is shown speaking corresponding to the voiceover]
[Video: Closeup of hands tying accelerometer onto robin]
[Video: Alex Jahn is shown speaking corresponding to the voiceover]
Alex Jahn speaks in voiceover: throughout the year. And what that'll tell us is how urbanization here on campus and in Bloomington is affecting robin behavior. So with the high abundance of robins that we see here on campus, it has a greater potential
[Video: Alex Jahn takes down netting set up outside]
[Video: Alex Jahn is shown speaking corresponding to the voiceover]
Alex Jahn speaks in voiceover: to spread disease across the population and potentially even to spill over in the case of zoonotic diseases to humans.
[Video: Blood sample being taken from under a robin’s wing]
[Video: Blood sample is dropped onto glass testing strip]
[Video: Alex Jahn is shown speaking corresponding to the voiceover]
Alex Jahn speaks in voiceover: For example, we're studying West Nile virus, here on campus where we've already detected it, in Robin's. A bird may be infected in 2020,
[Video: Hands hold robin as blood sample is placed into plastic test tube]
[Video: Test tube is placed into lunchbox]
[Video: Alex Jahn is shown speaking corresponding to voiceover]
Alex Jahn speaks in voiceover: but not show any symptoms of that. So basically be asymptomatic, and what we want to understand is-
[Video: low angle shot of Alex Jahn and colleague wrapping up the netting]
[Video: Alex Jahn is shown speaking corresponding to voiceover]
Alex Jahn speaks in voiceover: how does climate, year to year, as the bird experiences it, affect its chance of picking up new infections or reactivating latent infections.
[Video: Alex Jahn speaking fades to black]
[Video: Indiana University “Grand Challenges Prepared for Environmental Change” graphic, text eri.iu.edu fades in]
[Music: Music fades out]
[Video: Indiana University graphic, text eri.iu.edu fades out]