Nature Index 2018 Earth and Environmental Sciences

By modelling the course of climate change, scientists are building an arsenal to prepare for its impact.

Interdisciplinary encounters across the geosciences are yielding new insights into the workings of Earth and beyond.

Collaboration following the Fukushima disaster led to discoveries that could improve management of bluefin tuna.

Urgent environmental problems central to national well-being jostle for the attention of China’s scientists as they strive to produce research with global prestige.

The scale of growth in cities challenges scientists and policy-makers.

The global proliferation of Earth and environmental datasets opens new avenues for discovery.

Academic reward structures discourage the pursuit of vital research.

A mutually beneficial collaboration between a water company and a small applied science university yields an innovative and sustainable treatment.

Top 5 Earth and environmental science articles by Altmetric Score from 2012 to 2017.

A description of the terminology and methodology used in this supplement, and a guide to the functionality available free online at natureindex.com

Fudan University is establishing a cross-disciplinary research cluster, EGeo-X, to leverage its strengths in ecology, environmental, atmospheric and oceanic sciences to tackle the world’s environmental problems.

The College of Environmental and Resource Sciences at Zhejiang University is leveraging its multidisciplinary resources and has become a leading player in environmental science and ecology research.

The growing numbers of slums around cities is creating serious health and environmental problems. Rebekah Brown of Monash University discusses how better water management is a sustainable solution to revitalizing slums. Professor Rebekah Brown is the director of the Monash Sustainable Development Institute. As a social scientist with a background in civil engineering, she pioneers interdisciplinary research across the social and biophysical sciences in sustainable development. Under her leadership, the institute is tackling global challenges embodied by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and implementing solutions to real-world problems through partnerships. In 2017, an international research consortium led by Brown was awarded AUD$17 million in funding from the Wellcome Trust for a five-year project in partnership with the Asian Development Bank to provide novel sustainable water services in urban informal settlements or slums across the Asia-Pacific.

Building on its rich legacy, the School of Geography and Ocean Science at Nanjing University harnesses science and technology to make a positive impact on our environment and sustainable development.

Through industrial and global collaborations, environmental research at Tongji University has contributed to the sustainable development in China and beyond.

For more than a century, The University of Queensland (UQ) has maintained a global reputation for creating positive change by delivering knowledge leadership for a better world. UQ consistently ranks among the world's top universities*