Growing population… Increasing resource consumption… Changing patterns of climate… Diminishing land and freshwater resources… Degrading air and water quality... Emerging diseases... Increasing threats to human health and security...

These are not just theoretical concerns. Already, many of the world’s people face immediate, life-or-death threats from water scarcity, food shortages and environmental pollution. Continuing changes in the global environment may mean that even more people will face threats to their health, well-being and security.

Solving these problems will require new, interdisciplinary research to help us understand the changing relationships between human actions and Earth's complex environmental systems. It also requires integrating the latest science into real-world decision-making and public policy, with the ultimate goal of managing our planet's natural resources — the air, water, land and biological diversity upon which all life depends — sustainably into the future.

At the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE), we examine the linkages between natural resources, human health and security, and changes in the global environment. Our staff and students conduct cutting-edge research on these critical problems, and disseminate that knowledge through innovative teaching and outreach at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

SAGE is housed within the UW-Madison’s Nelson Institute, and is supported by government research grants, corporate gifts, and private funds.