Since 2008, the Institute for Humanities Research; the Wrigley Institute; the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing; the Center for Science and Imagination; the Climate Imagination Initiative; the Center for Science, Policy and Outcomes; and the School for Future Innovation in Society have been actively networking to build collaborative strength in the environmental humanities through research, education and outreach.
In 2013, the IHR was awarded an Andrew W. Mellon research grant through the Center for Humanities Center and Institutes to develop the North American Observatory, one of eight Humanities for the Environment (HfE) Observatories. The North American Observatory, which convened ASU faculty with faculty from nine other universities across the U.S., developed several public-facing, ongoing projects that identify, explore, and demonstrate the contributions that humanistic and artistic disciplines can make to understanding and engaging with global environmental challenges. The work of the NAO is ongoing.