September 30, 2025 

Launched in Spring 2025, Notre Dame’s Just Transformations to Sustainability (JTS) Initiative is a university-wide effort to build a sustainable future where people and nature flourish together. In pursuit of this vision, the JTS Initiative is advancing a distinctive model of sustainability research and education grounded in the best available science and the principles of integral ecology and integral human development. By bringing together interdisciplinary scholars, dedicated students, and action partners from across sectors, we aim to create the knowledge, tools, and networks that can catalyze transformative change for a more just and sustainable world.

If you are interested in the work of the Just Transformations to Sustainability Initiative, contact Kevin Fink, JTS Managing Director, or visit the website for more information. 

The JTS Initiative has awarded funding to three cross-disciplinary faculty teams leading research on pressing sustainability issues through its Nurturing Excellence in Sustainability at Notre Dame program. The program encourages long-term, place-based partnerships that prioritize marginalized and vulnerable communities and create hands-on training opportunities for students and young researchers. 

Led by Principal Investigators Krister Andersson, Professor of Sustainable Development in the Keough School of Global Affairs, and David Medvigy, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences, their research will shine a light on the often-overlooked, but vital, conservation work of Indigenous and farming communities in the Peruvian Amazon.

Led by Principal Investigators Jennifer Tank, the Ludmilla F., Stephen J., and Robert T. Galla Professor of Biological Sciences and director of the Notre Dame Environmental Change Initiative, and Alexander Dowling, the Tony and Sarah Earley Collegiate Professor of Energy and the Environment in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, their research brings together scientists, engineers, and local leaders to create a shared plan for managing water more sustainably across the St. Joseph River Basin, which flows from farms and small towns to cities like South Bend before reaching Lake Michigan.

Led by Principal Investigators Ming Hu, Associate Professor and Associate Dean for research, scholarship, and creative work in the School of Architecture, and Chaoli Wang, professor of Computer Science and Engineering, their research is a community-guided initiative that aims to make South Bend’s homes healthier, more affordable, and more energy efficient by developing practical, low-cost solutions that work for real people—starting with the neighborhoods that need it the most.

The Notre Dame Seminars on Sustainability Series is a signature lecture series organized by the Just Transformations to Sustainability Initiative that brings global sustainability leaders and world-class scholars to campus for knowledge sharing and engagement with the Notre Dame community. Here is a look at the upcoming speakers.

October 1st, 2025

11:00am to 12:00pm

Hesburgh Center Auditorium

Professor Fern Wickson, Professor of Ocean Leadership at UiT the Arctic University of Norway, will share key findings from the Transformative Change Assessment (IPBES), including what transformative change means and requires, what challenges and barriers currently block it, and the strategies and actions necessary to achieve it. She will invite attendees to explore how inner personal transformation connects to global transformation and the fundamental systems-wide changes necessary to achieve social justice and sustainability.

October 17th, 2025

11:00am to 12:00pm

Hesburgh Center Auditorium

Eduardo S. Brondizio is Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Director of the Center for the Analysis of Social-Ecological Landscapes, and Senior Fellow at the Ostrom Workshop at Indiana University-Bloomington. For over three decades, Brondizio’s work has documented, examined, and responded to the social-environmental transformation and governance challenges of Amazônia and contributed to numerous international initiatives addressing the social dimensions of and the contributions of Indigenous and local knowledge to global environmental change assessments and responses. 

More information will be shared closer to the day of the event.

Research Associate: Computational Models of Coupled Natural and Human Systems

To contribute to their research program titled "Invisible Efforts, Inaudible Voices: Putting Forest Communities’ Conservation Efforts on the Map,” Krister Andersson and David Medvigy are seeking a highly qualified and motivated Research Associate in Computational Models of Coupled Natural and Human Systems, with a strong interest in combining forest ecology and environmental policy.

Deadline: Nov 01, 2025 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time

Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Sustainability and Data Science

The JTS Initiative and the Data, AI, and Computing Initiative invite applications for a cohort of outstanding Postdoctoral Research Fellows with deep expertise in quantitative data analysis, data science, and artificial intelligence (AI). These fellows will join a dynamic, interdisciplinary team working at the intersection of data innovation and sustainability science, aligned with the values and principles of integral ecology.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis starting on November 1, 2025

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Just Transformation to Sustainability Initiative

jts@nd.edu | Notre Dame, IN 46556