The Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research (CGRER) at the University of Iowa is the result of a group of scientists with interests in the areas of global change and environmental sciences getting together in the Fall of 1988 to discuss the implications of global change. In November of 1989 the group hosted a symposium, Preparing for Climatic Changes: A Midwest Perspective. Subsequently a seminar series was formed and prominent speakers were invited to campus. In the Spring of 1990 the Board of Regents Environmental Research.

CGRER promotes interdisciplinary efforts that focus on the multiple aspects of global environmental change, including the regional effects on natural ecosystems, environments, and resources, and on human health, culture and social systems. Center membership is composed of interested faculty members at any of Iowa's colleges and universities. Currently there are 50+ CGRER members.

The primary goals of CGRER are:
• promote interactions between researchers interested in the effects and interactions of global change
• pursue funding oppotunities for multi-disciplinary projects from Federal, State, and private sourcess
• attract highly qualified students to campus who are interested in earth system science
• acquire state-of-the-art facilities and equipment essential to the conduct of global change research
• assist the State and its industries in their activities related to the effects of environmental change