The Center for Research on the Urban Environment (CRUE) is a collaboration among four colleges at Cleveland State University.  The goal of CRUE is to prepare future generations of environmental professionals by fostering an integrative atmosphere for research and classroom instruction that spans social and physical sciences.  Our interdisciplinary approach mimics the reality of professional life in land management, law, policy, science, and engineering, where teams of people from different disciplines often work together to address complex environmental problems, many of which occur at the intersection of urban and natural systems.

Mission Statement   We seek to produce environmental professionals who possess a strong foundation within a specific disciplinary focus, a broad awareness of the scope environmental problems, and practical experience with the variety of tools used to understand and mitigate environmental change.  This balance of both depth and breadth of knowledge allows our graduates to excel within the interdisciplinary frameworks that characterize environmental problems and the diverse networks of stakeholders that are engaged in environmental management and remediation. Our mission is driven by recognition of the following realities that describe humans’ role in environmental change and management:

1. The magnitude, pace, and complexity of environmental change are unprecedented and strongly impacted by human activities.  
2. Due to the concentration of people and economic activity in cities, urban areas are disproportionately responsible for many environmental changes and also home to unique consequences of environmental change.  
3. The scope of social and ecological issues that arise as a result of environmental change is often beyond the reach of a single academic discipline, government agency, landowner, business, or non-profit organization.

Vision   CRUE promotes the interdisciplinary integration of environmental education and research at Cleveland State by facilitating collaboration among multiple graduate programs with environmental themes.  Four colleges at CSU offer graduate programs in environmental disciplines and participate in CRUE: the College of Sciences and Health Professions offers an MS in Environmental Science, the Levin College of Urban Affairs offers an MA in Environmental Studies, the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law offers dual J.D.-Masters degrees, and the Waskewicz College of Engineering offers an MS in Environmental Engineering.  Abbreviated, 4+1 Masters programs are also available within the Levin College and the College of Sciences and Health Professions. 

Directors of these graduate programs and affiliated faculty work within CRUE to ensure that all students receive training in areas beyond their principal disciplinary focus.  Another aim shared by these graduate programs is to train and engage students in interdisciplinary problem-solving, focusing on environmental issues of regional and broader importance.  CRUE faculty also generate applied research opportunities for students by developing partnerships with local organizations charged with management of natural resources and human infrastructure.  We also aim to facilitate research by faculty and students through identification and pursuit of funding for environmental research.