Greetings from Auburn! This is Li An, current director of the Center for Human-Earth System Science (CHESS) at Auburn University. I joined the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment in the fall semester of 2023, starting to lead CHESS and coordinate various activities at the same time. CHESS was the former International Center for Climate and Global Change Research, which was founded in 2010 under the leadership of Dr. Hanqin Tian and produced enormous outcomes since then. In March 2025, the Center has been renamed to Center for Human-Earth System Science (CHESS), better reflecting its evolving mission, expertise, and an influx of new members who have specialized knowledge in socioeconomic aspects. This new name aligns the center’s work more closely with its goals and research profiles.
CHESS has its mission on understanding and envisioning various human-earth system processes, the impacts of these processes on human society and natural ecosystem systems, and the corresponding implications for human-earth system sustainability. Without losing strengths on modeling ecosystem structure, processes, and functions, we will also explore the reason(s), timing, and location of human decisions and activities, exploring the interactions between human system and earth system processes over both space and time.
CHESS hosts a variety of activities that explore solutions related to the above mission, including but not limited to research idea brainstorming meetings, high-profile scholar seminars, grant opportunity briefing meetings, and sharing some resources. We will also establish student awards, promoting student research and publications. Questions, comments, or suggestions can be directed to Dr. Li An at anli@auburn.edu. For more information, please visit my lab website or personal website.
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