Robin Higgins

Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, founded in 1970 and renamed in 2002 for former Wisconsin U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson, is dedicated to interdisciplinary environmental scholarship, education and community engagement at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It includes four research centers -- the Center for Climatic Research; the Center for Culture, History and Environment; the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment; and the Land Tenure Center. The Nelson Institute administers three graduate degree programs, five graduate-level certificate programs, and an undergraduate major and certificate in environmental studies, the latter of which is the largest undergraduate certificate program at UW-Madison. Armed with a diversity of perspectives and expertise, we tackle local concerns, global challenges and the connections between them. The institute is home to 18 budgeted and 140 affiliated faculty members from more than 40 natural and social science, engineering and humanities departments across the campus. As director of the Nelson Institute, Paul Robbins oversees the institute's mission of serving as a world leader in addressing environmental change. He brings years of experience as a researcher, studying human interactions with nature and the politics of natural resource management, as well as administrative leadership.