What is the Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering (CESE) at UConn?

The Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering (CESE) is a unit within the University of Connecticut's Institute of the Environment and Energy. It supports multidisciplinary research that bridges basic and applied environmental sciences, monitors environmental quality, informs stewardship, and helps shape policy. CESE is relevant if you are a UConn faculty member seeking analytical lab services or research support, a government or industry scientist looking for analytical testing and method development, or someone tracking research on emerging contaminants.

What CESE does

CESE's stated mission is to strengthen scientific understanding of complex and evolving natural systems. Its activities cluster around three functions:

• Research support — enabling multidisciplinary work that connects basic science with applied environmental problems.
• Environmental monitoring — tracking environmental quality as a basis for informed stewardship.
• Policy input — translating scientific findings into information useful for policy decisions.

Core areas

Environmental Laboratories

CESE operates spacious, state-of-the-art laboratories offering a full range of services in analytical method development and analytical testing. These support research by UConn faculty as well as government and industry scientists.

Emerging Contaminants

The center works on contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) — chemicals recently shown to occur in the environment and identified as potential risks to environmental or public health. Many CECs are in common use, found in everyday products in homes, farms, and businesses, or used in industrial commercial processes.

Business Office

CESE's Business Office provides pre-award and post-award support to investigators. Core Center faculty have a record of support from governmental and nongovernmental agencies including NSF, NIH, USDA, EPA, NASA, USGS, and DoE.

Research example: neonicotinoids in Connecticut waterways

CESE published a study, featured in The Hartford Courant, examining levels of neonicotinoids in Connecticut rivers and waterways. Neonicotinoids are pesticides developed in the 1990s and currently in widespread use. While effective, they kill indiscriminately and often harm pollinators such as bees and butterflies. A final report, "Neonicotinoids in Connecticut," is dated 1-11-2025.

Funding opportunity: MiSER

The Mini-Grants in Support of Environmental Research (MiSER) program leverages CESE's analytical capacity to help faculty develop research projects that do not currently have extramural or intramural support. Its objective is to reduce the cost of CESE laboratory services and analyses — nutrients, metals, organics, and emerging contaminants — for UConn faculty members.

Who should use this site

To go further, start with the Environmental Laboratories page for service details, the Emerging Contaminants page for CEC background, or the Business Office page if you need grant support.