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Center for Climate, Coastal, and Marine Studies

The Center for Climate, Coastal, and Marine Studies represents a transformational opportunity to catalyze institution-wide advances in large-scale and impactful research.

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.

About

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.

Together for Change

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.

Fast Facts

6,291

Articles, book chapters, and books published by seminar speakers.

89

Publications by seminar speakers among the 25% most cited papers worldwide.

18,791

Citations for research published by seminar speakers.

Mission Statement & Core Values

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.

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.

Climate Center in the News

Three male. students stand adjacent to a poster that illustrates a diagram, collaborating and analyzing the details together.

Rising Student Researchers Present at World’s Top Science Conference

Fairfield undergraduates Jada Ormsbee '24 and Caroline Potter '23 at the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology annual meeting in Austin, Texas this past January.

Biology Students and Faculty Present Research at Top Conferences

Fairfield University students collect samples to measure water quality.

Sound Studies

More Fairfield News

Publications and Press

Large Scale Impactful Research

The Center for Climate, Coastal, & Marine Studies will go beyond existing research activities in climate, coastal, and marine studies at the university by introducing a structured approach for large-scale impactful research that promises targeted and immediate societal impact.

In doing so, it will become a catalyst for positive outcomes with students, faculty, and the community.

Support the Center for Climate, Coastal, & Marine Studies

Transform Center-Funded Research Into A National Fellowship

Your drive to explore begins right away at Fairfield. From day one, you’ll tap into expert mentors, state-of-the-art facilities, and dedicated research funding. Apply for grants today. 

Learn About Student Research Opportunities

Contact Us

Margaret M. McClure
Margaret M. McClure
Associate Vice Provost for Research and Scholarship | Director, Honors Program | Professor, Psychological & Brain Sciences
Robert Nazarian
Robert Nazarian
Associate Professor, Physics | Founding Director, Center for Climate, Coastal, and Marine Studies

Advisory Council

Marissa del Rosario-Blackett, Counsellor to the Permanent Observer Mission of the Sovereign Order of Malta at the United Nations

Dr. John F. England ‘91, Lead Civil Engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Risk Management Center (RMC)

Dr. Shannon Gerry, Professor and Chair of Biology

John J. Herlihy ‘72, Member of the Fairfield University Alumni Association Board of Directors, Former VP of Water Quality and Environmental Management, Aquarion

John Hill, President and CEO, Derivative Strategies Group, Adjunct Professor of Business

Aishwarya Kuruttukulam, Senior Manager for Ecosystem Engagement, Climate Haven

Dr. Margaret McNamara McClure, Fairfield University Associate Vice Provost for Research and Scholarship, Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences

Dr. Robert Nazarian Founding Director, Fairfield University Center for Climate, Coastal, and Marine Studies, Associate Professor of Physics

Dr. Len Pietrafesa ‘65, Chair Emeritus of the NOAA (FACA) Science Advisory Board, the Board of Oceans, Atmospheres and Climate of the Association of Public Universities, and the Board of Trustees of the University Corporation of Atmospheric Research

Get In Touch

  • 1073 North Benson Road
    Fairfield, CT 06824

  • (203) 254-4000

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Location
10 minutes
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60 minutes
to NYC
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