School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems

The School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems (SICCS) integrates a range of educational programs and interdisciplinary research. Our programs integrate computational and data sciences with engineering, natural and social sciences, arts, and business.

Our faculty and academic programs combine expertise in environmental and ecological informatics, health and bioinformatics, computer science, cyber-security/cyber-engineering, and electrical engineering.

Director’s Welcome

Who We Are

Our Degrees

We offer undergraduate and graduate programs in Informatics, Electrical Engineering, and Computer Science. Our students are involved in a broad range of research and applied experiences. Explore our programs below!

Undergraduate

Graduate

Research & Emphasis Areas

Our school’s faculty, students, and staff bring interdisciplinary expertise to bear on applied and basic research problems in several emphasis areas, and in partnership with a variety of local and global partners. SICCS currently emphasizes five major areas of research.

Dubayah, R., Blair, J.B., Goetz, S., Fatoyinbo, L., Hansen, M., Healey, S., Hofton, M., Hurtt, G., Kellner, J., Luthcke, S., Armston, J., Tang, H., Duncanson, L., Hancock, S., Jantz, P., Marselis, S., Patterson, P., Qi, W., Silva, C. (2020). The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation: High-resolution laser ranging of the Earth’s forests and topography. Science of Remote Sensing 100002.
Brancalion, P. H. S., Niamir, A., Broadbent, E., Crouzeilles, R., Barros, F. S. M., Almeyda Zambrano, A. M., Baccini, A., Aronson, J., Goetz, S.J., Reid, J. L., Strassburg, B. N., Wilson, S., Chazdon, R. L. (2019). Global restoration opportunities in tropical rainforest landscapes. Science Advances, 5(7), eaav3223.
Walker, X. J., Baltzer, J. L., Cumming, S. G., Day, N. J., Ebert, C., Goetz, S.J., Johnstone, J. F., Potter, S., Rogers, B. M., Schuur, E. A. G., Turetsky, M. R., Mack, M. C. (2019). Increasing wildfires threaten historic carbon sink of boreal forest soils. Nature, 572(7770), 520–523.
Anderegg, W.R.L., Trugman, A.T., Badgley, G., Anderson, C.M., Bartuska, A., Ciais, P., Cullenward, D., Field, C.B., Freeman, J., Goetz, S.J., Hicke, J.A., Huntzinger, D., Jackson, R.B., Nickerson, J., Pacala, S., Randerson, J.T. (2020). Climate-driven risks to the climate mitigation potential of forests, Science 368 (6497)
Walker, X. J., Baltzer, J. L., Cumming, S. G., Day, N. J., Ebert, C., Goetz, S.J., Johnstone, J. F., Potter, S., Rogers, B. M., Schuur, E. A. G., Turetsky, M. R., Mack, M. C. (2019). Increasing wildfires threaten historic carbon sink of boreal forest soils. Nature, 572(7770), 520–523.
Basu S., S.J. Lehman, J.B. Miller, A.E. Andrews, C. Sweeney, K.R. Gurney, X. Xu, J. Southon, P. Tans (2020) Estimating US Fossil Fuel CO₂ Emissions from Measurements of ¹⁴C in Atmospheric CO₂, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, June 16, 2020 117 (24) 13300-13307; first published June 1, 2020
Gurney, K., Shepson, P., “Opinion: The power and promise of improved climate data infrastructure“. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Aug 2021, 118 (35) e2114115118
Gomez, M., A. Mejia, B.L. Ruddell, and R.R. Rushforth (2021), Supply chain diversity buffers cities against food shocks, Nature, V.595
Gurney, K.R., Liang, J., Roest, G. et al. Under-reporting of greenhouse gas emissions in U.S. cities. Nat Commun 12, 553 (2021).
Myers Smith, I.H., Kerby, J.T., ET.AL (2020)”Complexity revealed in the greening of the Arctic.” Nature Climate Change, 10(2), 106-117.
Berner, L., Massey, R., Jantz, P., Forbes, B. C., Macias Fauria, M., Myers-Smith, I., … & Burns, P. (2020). “Summer warming explains widespread but not uniform greening in the Arctic tundra biome“. Nature Communications.
O., Watson, J.E.M., Jantz, P., Virnig, A.L.S., Barnett, K., Pillay, R., Atkinson, S., Supples, C., Rodríguez-Buritica, S., Armenteras, D. (2020). “A policy-driven framework for conserving the best of Earth’s remaining moist tropical forests“. Nature Ecology and Evolution Evolution, early edition online.
William R. L. Anderegg, Anna T. Trugman, Scott J. Goetz, et al. “Climate-driven risks to the climate mitigation potential of forests“. Science 368.6497 (2020).
Enquist, B. J., Abraham, A. J., Harfoot, M. B., Malhi, Y., & Doughty, C. E. (2020). The megabiota are disproportionately important for biosphere functioning. Nature communications, 11(1), 1-11.
Richter, B.D., et al. Water scarcity and fish imperilment driven by beef production. Nat Sustain (2020).
Schmitz, Oswald J., et al. “Animals and the zoogeochemistry of the carbon cycle.” Science 362.6419 (2018): eaar3213.
Ogle, Kiona. “Hyperactive soil microbes might weaken the terrestrial carbon sink.” Nature (2018): 32.
Richardson, Andrew D., et al. “Ecosystem warming extends vegetation activity but heightens vulnerability to cold temperatures.” Nature 560.7718 (2018): 368.
Buermann, Wolfgang, et al. “Widespread seasonal compensation effects of spring warming on northern plant productivity.” Nature 562.7725 (2018): 110.
McManamay, Ryan A., et al. “US cities can manage national hydrology and biodiversity using local infrastructure policy.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114.36 (2017): 9581-9586.
Lu, Xiankai, et al.“Plant acclimation to long-term high nitrogen deposition in an N-rich tropical forest.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115.20 (2018): 5187-5192.

Our research is supported through collaborations with other university entities such as:

Our regional research partners include:

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