ARID maximizes the resilience of drylands to climate change by fostering transdisciplinary research, co-creating innovations with community and industry partners, and equitably training the next generation to improve economic, human, and ecosystem health in New Mexico and beyond. Core research areas include sustainable water, adaptive infrastructure, healthy ecosystems, and community health.

BEMP supports community science, education, and stewardship via equitable and inclusive hands-on student research essential to the management of the Rio Grande ecosystem.

The Center for the Advancement of Spatial Informatics Research and Education (ASPIRE) fosters integrative Geographic Information Science (GIScience) research and education and the application of cutting-edge geographic information technologies (GIT) at the University of New Mexico through cooperative research and education. Funded research via affiliated faculty in Biology, Earth & Planetary Sciences, and Geography & Environmental Studies addresses vegetation dynamics on protected land, flood resiliency on Pueblo lands, wildlife habitat and migratory waterfowl mapping, community-level health impacts from exposure to environmental contaminants, and livestock interaction with abandoned uranium mine waste. Selected student research projects are highlighted on the ASPIRE website.

The CEAH fosters research-based creative practices and scholarship in environmental humanities to address—what many people consider—are the two most consequential planetary-scale crises in human history: ‘biological annihilation’, which includes species extinctions and population declines; and ‘climate breakdown’, variously called, climate change, climate emergency, and global warming. Its students, undergraduate and graduate, and faculty collaborators come from a number of colleges, departments, centers, and institutes from across the UNM, including the College of Fine Arts, School of Architecture and Planning, College of Arts & Sciences, Indigenous Design + Planning Institute, and the Center for Regional Studies.

FiRES is an interdisciplinary center at UNM that was developed to improve ecosystem and societal resilience to wildfire. It conducts fundamental and applied research to develop next-generation fire and vegetation models, quantify the economic costs and benefits of managing for fire resilience, and quantify and mitigate the effects of air quality and public health.

The Center for Health Equity sustains and further develops the role of nursing in public health emergency preparedness and community resilience within the transdisciplinary field of Planetary Health. The Center works in five areas: Practice, Education, Advocacy, Research, and Leadership to develop the skills that address health crises that arise from climate change, natural and human-caused disasters, environmental pollution, migration/population shifts, and the increasing health inequities from environmental and social injustices.

The Center for Native American Environmental Health Equity Research, in the College of Pharmacy, addresses emerging tribal environmental health disparities associated with trash burning and dumping, resulting from insufficient infrastructure disparities to manage solid waste on tribal lands. The Community Engagement and Dissemination Core expands sustainable, culturally informed practices to enhance EH literacy, increase tribal EH research capacity, foster community engagement in EH research, and implement multi-directional translational strategies for disseminating the Center’s research.

The Center for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety (CPBS) is a Tier-1 University Transportation Center (UTC) funded by the US DOT. CPBS’s goal is to eliminate pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities and serious injuries. CPBS pursues this goal through research, education, technology transfer, and workforce development.

CWE is a research center of the UNM School of Engineering. As a National Science Foundation CREST center, it is focused on increasing the participation of underrepresented minorities in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) professions while conducting cutting-edge research into technological and engineering-based solutions to problems with water and the environment. Research themes include watersheds, treatment technologies, and water and energy.

The Design and Planning Assistance Center (DPAC) is a research unit within the School of Architecture and Planning. This interdisciplinary center was created in 1969 by the Architecture Department at UNM, with support from the Albuquerque Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. DPAC was formed in response to the urgent need for environmental research and planning, and architectural design assistance for underserved communities, governments, and non-profits in New Mexico. DPAC provides opportunities through employment and coursework for students to work on projects under faculty direction with community, agency, and client group representatives.

The iD+Pi, an initiative of the School of Architecture and Planning, educates and informs Indigenous design and planning by engaging faculty, students, professionals, and community leaders in culturally responsive practices using an education learning model. The overarching goal is to foster sustainable communities among Indigenous populations - communities guided by principles of social justice, distinguished by healthy environments, strong local economies, and thriving cultures.

The TN is a National Science Foundation–funded project that works to build resilient communities and ecosystems throughout the Intermountain Western United States. It is a partnership between eight Western U.S. universities and over 50 partner organizations, including Tribes, governmental and non-governmental organizations, public utilities, conservation districts, irrigation districts, and municipalities. Its core research themes are resilient headwaters, food-energy-water systems, and innovative and equitable governance and institutions.

The goal of the Just Transition to Green Energy Grand Challenge Team is to create economic opportunities and equitable pollution reduction for disadvantaged communities in the transition to clean energy and climate resilience. The convening team has a shared vision around conducting policy-relevant research that advances social justice goals aligned with a just transition. A key focus of this team is to serve as a resource to community organizations and government entities. The team includes researchers from political science, population health, and UNM's Law School.

The Metals Exposure and Toxicity Assessment on Tribal Lands in the Southwest (UNM METALS) Superfund Research Program Center, within the College of Pharmacy, is dedicated to studying the toxic effects of mixed metals and uranium exposure on tribal communities in the Southwest.

The New Mexico for Good program is a multi-stakeholder initiative of the Anderson School of Management, focused on education, research, and responsible economic development. It is designed to harness existing efforts and encourage new responsible business enterprises in collaboration with businesses, nonprofits, local and state government, and other academic institutions. The NM for Good program includes certified B Corps, Benefit Corporations and other businesses that have or are interested in institutionalizing responsible business practices such as through Fair Trade, 1% for the Planet, Conscious Capitalism and others.

RCRP, a center within the School of Architecture and Planning, was established to contribute to the community development efforts of traditional communities in New Mexico. The Center promotes integration between higher education and traditional communities through the application of planning processes and techniques. RCRP conceives planning as multidisciplinary, intergenerational, directly responsive to community needs, and developed through ongoing, long-term relationships.

The Sevilleta Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program expands the understanding of biological processes in drylands. The program addresses big questions in ecology, centered on environmental variability. The fluctuating nature of drylands makes them excellent study systems to improve general understanding of the biological consequences of environmental variability.

The Utton Center researches and provides information to the public about water, natural resources and environmental issues, with a particular focus on New Mexico and the Southwest. It supports collaborative natural resource management using multidisciplinary expertise and inclusive, diverse stakeholder involvement.