National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC)

The National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) is an NSF-funded center in Annapolis, Maryland with an award to the University of Maryland at College Park. It is a collaborative effort that includes the University of Michigan; University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS); Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ (Germany);  Environment for Development Initiative (EfD) at the University of Gothenburg (Sweden); Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies; Gallaudet University; Washington State University at Vancouver; and Coppin State University.

SESYNC is dedicated to serving the synthesis research community and is grounded in the philosophy that to solve today's environmental problems, natural and social scientists must work with policy-makers to identify priorities and co-develop research questions. Addressing these questions requires a combination of fundamental, discovery-driven synthesis research and a commitment to clear communication of scientific insights to decision makers and stakeholders. The Center strives to engage the broad community to guide all of its activities. It supports the community in developing novel approaches for overcoming the epistemological, pedagogical, and institutional hurdles to conducting synthetic socio-environmental research. SESYNC is dedicated to creating synthetic, actionable research and scholarship related to the structure, functioning, and sustainability of socio-environmental systems. Education and outreach research and activities are embedded throughout the Center's programs.