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This is a place where students learn how to adapt to whatever the future might bring, develop critical thinking skills and expand their creativity. With a choice of rigorous academic programs in 131 undergraduate areas of study, 49 master's level programs and 20 areas of doctoral study, Horned Frogs have opportunities to search for meaning and examine values, yet graduate well-prepared for professional accomplishment.

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Texas Sierra Club Special Service Award

Association of International Educators (NAFSA) Senator Paul Simon Spotlight Award for TCU Rhino Initiative

College of Science and Engineering Award for Distinguished Achievement as a Creative Teacher and Scholar (Chancellor’s Award Finalist)

Earth Day Texas Technology Prize (with Downwindersatrisk)

College of Science and Engineering Dean’s Research Award, Texas Christian University

American Geophysical Union

Association of American Geographers

Geological Society of America

British Geomorphological Research Group

 British Hydrological Society

British Society of Soil Science

International Association of Geomorphologists

Near-surface soil moisture dynamics in a prairie hillslope seep/headwater stream system in Texas, USA

Grand challenges in the science of wind energy

Sediment Source Fingerprinting: Transforming From a Research Tool to a Management Tool

The predominance of economic development in the support for large-scale wind farms in the US Great Plains

State and local economic impacts from wind energy projects: Texas case study

Controls on sediment delivery in coastal plain rivers

Holocene sediment accretion in the Trinity River delta, Texas, in relation to modern fluvial input

New Fourth Edition Now Available!Scientists say we are in a new stage of the Earth’s history, the Anthropocene, when we humans have become the globe’s principal agent of change.To begin a shift toward a “sustainable society,” significant action is required now on a range of issues. Fortunately, people are capable of changing their behaviors and values. Often these changes stem from exposure to new information or experiences.Contemporary Environmental Issues exposes readers to the extent of our impact on the Earth’s ecosystems, as well as the challenges we face in trying to strike a balance between development and conservation. By exposing readers to such information and experiences, it develops a level of environmental literacy that is necessary for dealing with the challenges of the 21st century.Contemporary Environmental Issues presents a candid analysis of the major environmental issues the world currently faces and encourages students think about how the environment affects their lives and how their actions affect the environment.Available in print and eBook formats, the NEW fourth edition of Contemporary Environmental Issues:Covers arguably the most pressing issues we face: population growth (and food), energy, atmospheric pollution, ozone depletion, climate change, deforestation, biodiversity loss, soil degradation, and water quantity and quality. Presents the current state of scientific knowledge, yet, is written at a level that is digestible by the non-science major.Encourages Critical Thinking! Students are encouraged to find solutions to environmental problems using ethical, aesthetic, political, and cultural perspectives, in addition to basic science and economics. Integrates up-to-date, thoroughly reviewed illustrations, diagrams, data, and references from some of the world’s leading scientific journals.

Contemporary Environmental Issues

Professor Mike Slattery is Director of the Institute for Environmental Studies and Lead Scientist on the TCU-Oxford-Nextera Wind Research Initiative at Texas Christian University. Originally from South Africa, he is an internationally-trained geographer and environmental scientist: his Bachelor’s is from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Masters from the University of Toronto, Canada, and Ph.D. from the University of Oxford, England. He has written more than 70 scientific articles, published a book on environmental issues, and has testified before the U.S. Congress. In 2007 he was awarded the Dean’s Research and Creative Activity Award at TCU. He serves on the editorial board of the Annals of the Association of American Geographers and on the executive research board of the Texas Institute.

Mike has worked in diverse landscapes ranging from the Namib Desert in southern Africa to the cloud forests of Costa Rica. In 2008 he helped establish a research station and several biodiversity and conservation programs in Costa Rica, including a Green Macaw Protection Initiative. His research expertise is on human impact on the environment, especially river systems, and he teaches courses on the environment, soils, hydrology, and climate. He lives in Fort Worth.

Mercury Contamination from Coal-fired Power Plants

Wind Research

Rhino Conservation

Human Impact to Coastal Plains, Rivers and Sediment Pathways

Faculty Profile

ResearchGate Citations

Google Scholar Citations

Rhino Poacher Killed by Elephant and Eaten by Lions, Officials Say

Climate for Change

TCU Rhino Initiative charges forward to stop poaching

Is Wildlife Trafficking a National Security Threat?

TCU’s connections in Costa Rica provide opportunities for students

The African Rhino Conservation Collaboration (ARCC): An update from the field

Quantifying changes in near-surface soil moisture and temperature during prescribed fire under three fuel loads

The African Rhino Conservation Collaboration (ARCC): A strategy to protect rhino in the Eastern Cape of South Africa

Community-based conservation models and their application to the rhino crisis in South Africa

“Utility-scale wind energy projects: Managing public perception and environmental risk

Local community-based rhino protection, conservation training and education

TCU Visiting Scholars Award

TCU Instructional/equipment grant for Costa Rica weather station

TCU Global Innovator Award

Integrating wind energy into our ecological communities: Phase II

Professor, Department Chair and Director of the Institute for Environmental Studies

Dr. Mike Slattery, Professor and Director of the Institute for Environmental Studies, is taking the lead on environmental responsibility.

TCU - Mike Slattery

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