The founding of the John Muir Institute of the Environment in 1997 was a monumental achievement for visionary academics. It was the culmination of over 30 years of strong leadership in environmental research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and campus and system-wide endorsement. It was built upon the success of an earlier prototype, the Institute of Ecology (IOE). Founded in 1966 by Professor Charles Goldman in Zoology, the Institute of Ecology was the first environmental institute in California and one of the earliest in the nation. Chancellor Theodore Hullar (1987-1994) was the first to coin the name “John Muir Institute” in connection with a campus-wide environmental entity.
The Muir Institute is an applied research cooperative composed of UC Davis faculty, staff and students with deep expertise in seemingly every aspect of science and society. We foster cross-disciplinary partnerships among teams of experts who take aim at the most challenging environmental, economic, human health and welfare problems of our time.
At the Muir Institute, our mission is to discover, research, and solve pressing environmental and human health challenges.