For more information about our signature programs click the links below.
| Signature Programs | Description |
| Water: Systems, Science and Society (WSSS) | Interdisciplinary graduate research and education program providing diverse perspectives and tools to manage water-related problems around the world. |
| Tufts Environmental Literacy Institute (TELI) | Annual workshop enhancing environmental literacy among faculty, with the key goal of helping them incorporate environmental themes into existing or new courses, thereby increasing the environmental knowledge of undergraduates. |
| Environmental Graduate Student Fellowships | Graduate student fellowships supporting interdisciplinary environmental research projects and a cohort of student researchers. |
| Travel Grants |
Financial awards to offset transportation costs and conference registration fees for Tufts students presenting at environmental conferences, meetings, and workshops. |
| Course Development Grants | This grant program seeks to encourage teaching staff, faculty and lecturers, from different disciplines to collaborate in creative ways to develop and teach an interdisciplinary environmental course. Courses should be targeted to a wide range of graduate and/or undergraduate students. |
| Student Internships | Graduate and undergraduate interns take on a variety of programmatic and research projects; historically highly successful job placement after moving on from TIE. |
| Past Signature Programs and Initiatives | Description and Current Status |
| Environmental Action: Shifting from Saying to Doing |
Experimental College course sponsored by TIE and run by the Office of Sustainability that teaches students practical tools for environmental action. (2009–2011) |
| Energy and Climate Forum | Seminars and occasional lectures addressing critical issues related to energy and climate. Co-sponsored by the Department of Economics and CIERP. (2010 – 2011) |
| Solar Decathlon | US Department of Energy-funded student competition to build a solar home and exhibit it on the Washington Mall. (2007–2009) |
| GIS Lab grant | Initial grant given to explore possibility of bringing a GIS lab to campus, with software and a faculty appointment. First course was met with overwhelming student interest. The lab now has a permanent location in Tisch Library and dedicated funding through UIT. (Mid-1990s) |
| Rio+20 | Provided financial and logistical support for the Tufts delegation of faculty, staff, graduate, and undergraduate students from across the university to attend the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janiero (Rio + 20); co-sponsored a side event at the conference entitled “From Burden Bearing to Opportunity Sharing: Reframing Environmental Negotiations” with CIERP. (June 2012) |
| STARS | The Sustainability Tracking Assessment & Rating System (STARS) is a program of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), a transparent self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to gauge relative progress toward sustainability. This project was initiated between TIE and the Office of Sustainability during the spring of 2010. In August, 2011 Tufts completed the Sustainability, Tracking, Assessment and Rating system (STARS), earning a rank of Silver. (2010 – 2011) |
