CANRI functions as an important avenue for promoting interdisciplinary research on the environment. Housed in the College of Arts & Sciences but working with students and faculty across the university, the institute provides opportunities for faculty from across disciplines to collaborate, conduct research, seek grants, engage with community organizations, and work with graduate students. Faculty affiliated with CANRI have extensive experience using multiple research methods to explore human dimensions of environmental problems and solutions, especially those that relate to the Intermountain West. Below are a selection of some of the collaborative research projects affiliated students and faculty are working on.
The Bear Lake Research Project is assessing Bear Lake environmental concerns of scientists, residents, and community organizations.
The Beehive State Panel (BSP) periodically gathers Utahns' perspectives on issues important to the state to inform decision-making for a thriving future.
To understand the many factors that impact community wellbeing in high natural amenity rural places, CANRI members have conducted a variety of community-engaged research studies and analyses of county, state, and national data.
Across the American West, amenity rich areas have been grappling with population growth, economic shifts, and associated community impacts.
Working in partnership with Healthy Environment Alliance (HEAL) of Utah and Utah Youth Environmental Solutions (UYES), the primary purpose of this project is to engage in participatory research methods to better identify communities’ differential, place-based needs, concerns, and capacities for adapting to and reducing the impacts of lake desiccation.
Our objectives for this project are two-fold: First, to understand how recently arrived international immigrants along the Wasatch Front perceive risk, vulnerability, and resilience as it relates to Great Salt Lake desiccation; and second, to understand how immigrant- and refugee-serving community organizations conceive of these same risks and work to mitigate environmental impacts upon the communities they serve.
The Transformation Network (TN) aims to build resilient communities and ecosystems throughout the Intermountain Western United States.
The Landscape Conversion in Utah Project investigates Utah’s new Landscape Conversion Incentive Program by combining resident interviews and water modeling to assess motivations, barriers, and water-saving potential, with the dual aim of informing policy and exploring the justice dimensions of lawn conversion.
Focuses on engagement, consent and community wellbeing in transitioning coal communities, and Utahns' wellbeing and mental health.
Smart Foodscapes is a transformative paradigm for western U.S. beef production.
The Utah People and Environment Poll gathers Utahns' perspectives on environmental issues important to the state to inform decision-making for a thriving future.
With funding from the USDA/NRCS and the Utah State Legislature in 2021, the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) created the Utah Soil Health Program. Further, they developed the Utah Soil Health Partnership (USHP) to bring together various partners, agencies, and stakeholders to promote the adoption of soil health practices in Utah.
The Utah Wellbeing Project partners with Utah cities to gather perspectives on wellbeing from residents to inform city planning processes, decisions, and futures.
The Water Heritage Anthropological Project investigates how water has shaped communities over time using archaeological, geospatial, ethnographic, and archival data.
