Environmental Science Institute

In Dr. Banner's GEO371T Environmental Resilience Science class, students investigate how environmental change and resource management intersect with community well-being.

For their fourth field trip, UT students and researchers connected with East Austin community leaders to explore the Boggy Creek watershed and discuss how these vital water resources have changed over time!

Meet our Community-Based Research Symposium Speakers!

Come join our free Symposium on May 19th & 20th to learn about how community-based research can help address pressing environmental and public health challenges! Discussions will bring together ideas across air, climate, energy, food, health, land use, and water to inspire collaborations, share best practices, and turn research into real-world solutions.

Find more information and registration at bit.ly/May2026event (link in Bio). We look forward to seeing y'all there!

Come join our free Symposium on May 19th & 20th to explore how community-based research can help address pressing environmental and public health challenges! Discussions will bring together ideas across air, climate, energy, food, health, land use, and water to inspire collaborations, share best practices, and turn research into real-world solutions.

Find more information and registration at bit.ly/May2026event. We look forward to seeing y'all there!

From walking to running to climbing, have you ever wondered why we primates move the way we do? 👣 The Way We Move with Dr. Liza Shapiro is now live on YouTube! 🎥 https://buff.ly/UUlEIxi

Join PODER for their 35th Anniversary Celebration this Friday night, May 1st! As part of the festivities ESI Research Coordinator David Bahamon Pinzon and ESI Director Jay Banner will receive PODER’s Social Justice Leadership Award. Hope to see you there. RSVP info:

PODER's 35th Anniversary Celebration — PODER Save the date! Join us in celebrating and commemorating 35 years of grassroots organizing, education and advocacy. Stay tuned for more details! .austin on Instagram

This Saturday, May 2nd, the Austin Film Society will be screening a highly acclaimed new film, “The Lake”, about the looming environmental disaster of the Great Salt Lake, featuring an in-person Q&A with Producer Fletcher Keyes and ESI Director Jay Banner.

For more info and tix: https://buff.ly/BSIDmeL

NEW VIDEO RELEASE 🌌 The Hot Science -Cool Talks, "The Story of Our Cosmic Home" is now available to watch!

Join us as we explore our place in the universe, from our solar system to the vast cosmic web. Watch the full recording → https://buff.ly/csQeaP4

Last Friday, 300 people came to learn from Dr. Liza Shapiro about the human and primate locomotion, and how scientists study it 🦍🚶‍♀️Special thanks to B. Hart Elementary School for their incredible Ballet Folklorico performance before the talk (on slide 4)!

Thank you everyone for showing up! Follow us on all platforms to stay tuned for next semester’s Hot Science Cool Talks!!

21st Century Texas: Climate, water, science, and society Webinar
Date: Today! Wednesday, April 15, 2026
Time: 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. CT

Dr. Jay Banner, F.M. Bullard Professor of Earth & Planetary Sciences and Director of the Environmental Science Institute at UT Austin, will explore how climate change, water resources, and public health are deeply connected in our state. What can past climate patterns tell us about the increasing risks of drought and extreme heat? What can we do to build a more resilient Texas?

Register:https://buff.ly/tzOOtRf

Biological anthropologist Dr. Liza Shapiro invites us to rethink how we move. From nimble monkeys to powerful apes, primates walk, climb, leap, and scramble in wildly different ways. And humans? We’re the odd ones out… but not in the way you might think.

Register now for free using the link in our bio!