Directed by Dr. Rafael M. Almeida, the ECS Lab is housed in the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University, Bloomington.
We investigate diverse environmental aspects of constructed ecosystems used for energy, food, and water provision. Current research in the lab focuses primarily on water-based energy and food systems such as hydropower, floating solar energy, and aquaculture, but we also venture into land-based solar. Our ultimate goal is to advance understanding of environmental trade-offs and practical solutions that enhance climate resilience, land-use efficiency, and other positive outcomes. Through a combination of ecological fieldwork, geospatial analysis, and data science, we address a broad spectrum of environmental considerations, including greenhouse gas footprints, land-use change, water quality and quantity, hydrological alteration, and biodiversity conservation. We gain insights across multiple scales—from global syntheses to regional studies.
Read more about some current focal themes of research in the ECS Lab below.
Strategic hydropower development
Hydropower is the world’s largest source of electricity, and dam construction will continue proliferating as global economies shift away from fossil fuels.
How can we balance social-ecological costs and energy benefits to inform better dam siting decisions? How will climate change affect future hydropower portfolios? How can greenhouse gas emissions from carbon-intensive hydropower dams be avoided or mitigated?
Floatovoltaics and agrivoltaics
Decarbonizing the global power sector will require the deployment of solar panels over vast areas worldwide. Two nascent solutions to reduce land-use conflicts of the solar revolution are to deploy solar panels over already converted land such as reservoirs, irrigation canals, and agricultural fields.
We are interested in evaluating multiple sustainability dimensions of ‘floatovoltaics’ and ‘agrivoltaics’, including GHG benefits, ecological advantages and risks, economic viability, and barriers to implementation. Where and under what conditions will floatovoltaics and agrivoltaics be more promising or challenging? How does shading from panels affect ecological processes in aquatic environments and agroecosystems?
Aquaculture sustainability
Aquaculture is the fastest-growing sector of the global food system, and farmed fish production already exceeds wild fish catch globally. We are especially interested in the expansion of freshwater aquaculture in biodiverse river basins such as the Amazon.
What drives emissions of greenhouse gases from aquaculture systems, and how do these emissions compare with those of other animal food sources? What practices and conditions could reduce the greenhouse-gas and land-use footprint of aquaculture? Which aquaculture species are most suitable to balance economic, nutritional and environmental objectives?