The Gund Institute for Ecological Economics (GIEE), was founded at the University of Vermont in 2002. The Institute became an internationally leader in Ecological Economics, and a hub for interdisciplinary scholarship at UVM.

In 2017, GIEE was replaced by the Gund Institute for Environment with a broader mission: to mobilize scholars and leaders to understand and solve the world’s most important environmental challenges. 

• Established in 2002 at the University of Vermont with support from the Gund Family.
• Directors: Taylor Ricketts (2012-17), Jon Erickson (acting, 2009-12), Robert Costanza (2002-10)
• GIEE scholars published more than 600 scientific papers.
• Alumni have pursued successful careers in business, government, NGOs and academia, including World Bank, WWF, IBM, Princeton, and Cambridge.
• Partnerships included: European Union, City of Burlington, Green Mountain Coffee, Virgin Atlantic, Tiffany & Co., CGIAR, Natural Capital Project, Nature Conservancy, USDA, EPA, Harvard, Stanford, McGill and state agencies.
• Attracted funding from government agencies, NGOs and private sector, including NASA, Google, NSF, USDA, Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Norman Family Foundation.
• The GIEE was replaced by the Gund Institute for Environment in April 2017.
• As of 2017, the GIEE had:
  • 25 current faculty Fellows.
  • 35 current graduate student Fellows.
  • A global network of 100+ Gund alumni and 30 Affiliated researchers.

• International leader in Ecological Economics, a transdisciplinary field that grounds economics to natural sciences.
• GIEE researchers attracted global media coverage, including major stories in the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN and the Guardian.
• Director Taylor Ricketts named by Reuters among world’s most influential environmental scholars for three years straight.
• Scholars participated in major global initiatives, including UN Climate Change Conferences, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, and The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity.
• Gund research drove a 2016 International Whaling Commission resolution recognizing the environmental importance of conserving whales.
• Created first ever map U.S. wild bee declines.
• Launched Economics for the Anthropocene (E4A), an innovative international graduate program with Canada’s McGill and York universities.
• Led 30+ experiential learning ‘Ateliers’ in Cuba, Brazil, Iceland, Ukraine, Ethiopia, Peru, Dominican Republic, Philippines, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Vermont.

• Led the Vermont Climate Assessment in 2014, the first university-led state climate assessment in the U.S.
• GIEE scholars helped Burlington, VT, become a UN Center of Excellence for Sustainability in 2014.
• Created the Vermont Genuine Progress Indicator, which was adopted by Vermont government in 2013.
• GIEE scholars served as expert witnesses for state and federal governments on environmental issues, including climate change, water quality, carbon tax, endangered species, harmful pesticides.
• Bloom, a PBS series on Lake Champlain water quality, received Emmy award in 2011.