Overview

The University of Oregon, founded in 1876, is the state’s flagship institution. Located in Eugene, an energetic college town, the university offers academic excellence and hands-on learning opportunities in a welcoming atmosphere. Towering trees shade the 295-acre campus, where students, faculty members, and employees from a wide variety of backgrounds share a commitment to preserving the environment and pursuing innovation in more than 260 academic programs that range from Eugene to Portland and from the coast to the mountains.

Office of Sustainability

The University of Oregon is committed to the triple bottom line and has become a national leader in campus sustainability through the efforts of administration, faculty, staff, and students. The University of Oregon is actively engaged in greening facility operations, innovative research, supporting and encouraging student initiatives, implementing environmentally and sustainability focused curriculum, and sponsoring public service initiatives.

The Office of Sustainability was established in 2007 to help set goals, monitor progress, make policy recommendations, support student, faculty, and staff initiatives, and tell the UO's sustainability story.

Sustainability is about meeting our current resource needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Because our economy and society are dependent on a healthy environment, sustainability requires balancing economic success with environmental conservation, and social equity, also known as the triple bottom line.

Research

Faculty, students, and scholars at the University of Oregon participate in research projects that range from green design and building, alternative energy, environmental issues and policy, social and environmental justice, sustainable materials and chemistry, to community development.

Researchers at the Institute for a Sustainable Environment (ISE) are dedicated to assisting natural resource based communities find sustainable solutions, while the Solar Radiation Monitoring Lab has developed a program that shows the sun's path across the sky at any given latitude and longitude. These projects and others at the UO are sources of innovation that help us move toward a sustainable future.