Dear Friends and Supporters,
Reflecting on 2024, it was truly a year of unprecedented growth for the Environmental Finance Center at the University of Maryland. We worked with communities big and small, rural and urban, red and blue throughout the Mid-Atlantic to advance locally identified environmental priorities. Formalizing our WaterTA program greatly enhanced our technical assistance offerings; our participation in the Global FEWture Alliance expanded our network of collaborators both on campus and around the world; and the addition of four new team members broadened our skill set and the services we provide. We witnessed firsthand the power of community engagement to affect long-overdue change, the ability of applied research to improve local conditions, and the promise of creating the next generation of environmental stewards – all of which you will read about in the pages that follow.
As the world around us continues to grapple with the complexities of a changing climate and the continuously evolving landscape of environmental policy, our mission to build local capacity to develop innovative financing solutions to environmental challenges has never been more important. The Environmental Finance Center remains committed to ensuring that communities have the infrastructure and resources necessary to improve local resilience and economies.
Uncertainty can cause great fear; it can also create great hope. We believe that together, we have the knowledge, tools, and passion to make communities better. Collaboration will enable us all to harness our collective ability to support communities in taking action.
While 2025 and beyond has the potential to be unprecedented for its own set of reasons, I have faith that we will continue to witness hope in action – neighbors helping neighbors, science informing decision making, obstacles inspiring innovation, and work that sparks the curiosity of future environmental professionals.
Fearlessly Forward, the University of Maryland brand, has taken on a whole new meaning. Thank you for your continued support. Onward!
Jennifer Cotting, Director, University of Maryland Environmental Finance Center