Research

The goal of the Department of Integrative & Global Studies (DIGS) is to create societies that are socially inclusive, culturally vibrant, economically prosperous, and ecologically sound. Research and teaching are closely aligned as faculty and research staff collaborate with students and local partners around the world from government, academia, and business to explore diverse topics with local and global impacts.

DIGS faculty work to push the limits of what is possible through:

  • Interdisciplinary approach - Our research staff and faculty combine training and experience in geography, economic development, urban policy and planning, environmental philosophy and policy, water, energy, and more.
  • Theory and practice - DIGS faculty research extends from the highly theoretical to the immediately applicable. It is at this intersection we seek to make important contributions to sustainability research and the communities in which we work.
  • Educational research - In addition to sustainability-related research, the faculty maintain an action-oriented research program focused on experiential, project-based, cross-cultural undergraduate education initiatives—including WPI’s Great Problems SeminarInteractive Qualifying Project and Global Projects Program.

Scholarship and Applied Research

Collaborating with departments, programs, faculty and staff across campus, DIGS faculty members address research topics from environmental sustainability and social justice, to resource management and public health, to policy development and planning, and more—all to support the needs of local and global communities. From this diversity of research interests that converge on the goal of addressing today's most pressing problems and grand challenges, the department is uniquely positioned to have real-world impacts.

Research Focus Areas

  • Climate Change
  • Sustainable Community Development
  • Food, Water and Energy Resources Management
  • Experiential/Project-based Learning Programs

DIGS Faculty Achievements

headshot of Caitlin Ferrarini

Caitlin Ferrarini's article featured in the latest issue of The Global Impact Exchange

Assistant Teaching Professor Caitlin Ferrarini's article, "First-generation students bring a curious and open mindset to online community-based global learning during the COVID-19 pandemic," is featured in the latest issue of Diversity Abroad's quarterly publication, The Global Impact Exchange. This article is based Professor Ferrarini's findings from her recently published dissertation, and she also linked the SWEET Center's asset-mapping exercise as a practical resource related to her findings.

Professor Seth Tuler stands in an outdoor walkway on the WPI campus in between buildings

Seth Tuler Appointed to U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board

Seth Tuler, associate professor in the Department of Integrative and Global Studies in The Global School at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, has been appointed by President Biden to serve as a member of the U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board 

The board is an independent federal agency that performs technical and scientific peer reviews of nuclear waste management and disposal activities in the United States. It also issues reports and recommendations to the U.S. Secretary of Energy and Congress regarding the U.S. Department of Energy’s activities concerning high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel.

mccauley

Stephen McCauley named to Green Worcester Advisory Committee

Stephen McCauley has been named to the Green Worcester Advisory Committee. This committee is a citizen advisory board that supports information exchange between the City and the Worcester community on topics of sustainability and resilience. The committee works with the city's Department of Sustainability and Resilience (DSR) to ensure progress toward the Green Worcester Plan, and to represent the community's interests around initiatives related to environmental justice, energy transition, lakes and ponds, zero waste and other topics related to sustainability and resilience.

9/11/2024

William San Martín (DIGS) awarded an NSF grant to accelerate research and policy to reduce global nitrogen pollution

William San Martín has received a 4-year NSF grant for the project Accelerating Coordination across Research and Policy Networks to Halve Nitrogen Waste (iN-Net) ($1.49 million, Award 2412593). The project works with international scientific networks and policymakers in South Asia, Africa, Latin America, the US, and Europe, as well as with intergovernmental organizations, including the United Nations Environment Program - Nitrogen Working Group, a forum of 80+ government representatives created in 2019 to explore the challenges of governing nitrogen pollution and developing new national and international policy instruments.