Center for Climate, Coastal, and Marine Studies

Student researchers traveled with faculty to the Thimble Islands, an archipelago of 25 small wooded islands off the coast of Branford, Connecticut, to conduct environmental studies for Fairfield’s new Center for Climate, Coastal, and Marine Studies.

Amidst a rapidly growing body of related work by our students and faculty, our location on the Connecticut coast, and numerous complimentary programs, Fairfield University’s commitment to addressing pressing environmental challenges for the well-being of society and our planet will be energized through the establishment of this new center.

Please join us in this effort for the benefit of our students, our faculty, community members, and the health of our home along the Long Island Sound.

Faculty Commitment

Nearly 30 faculty members from 17 academic departments enthusiastically support the Center for Climate, Coastal, and Marine Studies.

Mission Statement

Guided by Fairfield University’s core mission and responsibility as an institution of higher education, as well as the Society of Jesus’ apostolic preference for care for our common home, the Fairfield Center for Climate, Coastal, and Marine Studies:

Advances our knowledge of climate, coastal, and marine systems, broadly defined, and develops research-based answers to some of the most pressing questions in this field by fostering faculty and students conducting inter- and trans-disciplinary scholarship;

Focuses faculty and student-faculty research in high-impact, timely areas of inquiry, with particular emphasis on areas that intersect with the University mission of social responsibility and justice;

Supports the development of faculty and student scholars through collaborative and transformative research projects and/or creative accomplishments that are presented in peer-reviewed venues;

Promotes the engagement of faculty and students with the community, through frequent and varied outreach events, to both share the results of their scholarship as well as to serve as a resource for local stakeholders.

Core Values

To accomplish this mission, the Center affirms the following core values:

Robust research: We support the robust, peer-reviewed faculty research programs at Fairfield and provide resources for faculty scholarship to flourish.

Inter- and trans-disciplinarity: We embrace and support diverse perspectives and research methodologies to tackle complex questions regarding the climate, coast and ocean.

Student formation: We seek to develop independent, career-ready student researchers, particularly in multi-disciplinary settings, through their sponsored scholarship and mentorship by faculty experts.

Social responsibility and justice: We prioritize research that serves the common good and is high-impact for the greater Fairfield community.

Jesuit grounding: We support the integration of the Ignatian values of critical thinking, discernment and continuous evaluation into Fairfield’s research culture.

Fairfield University students collect samples to measure water quality.

Sound Studies

The Center for Climate, Coastal, and Marine Studies heralds a new era of faculty-student research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and community engagement.