Western CEDAR

The Institute of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (IETC) was established in 1989 and is a research facility in Huxley College of the Environment (Huxley) at Western Washington University (Western). It supports Huxley's Department of Environmental Sciences and the mission of the university by providing instructional services and training to undergraduate and graduate students in the field of environmental toxicology and chemistry. It also has an extensive history conducting grant-funded research projects for local, state, federal, and international government agencies, as well as for industry, citizen groups, and foundations. Funding from these grants is used to financially support undergraduate and graduate students, as well as provide them with hands-on skills and training in conducting research.

The primary focus of IETC’s research is on conducting regional-scale ecological risk assessments using methods developed by Dr. Wayne Landis, the IETC Director, and his research team. This methodology has been used by Dr. Landis to assess the risks posed by chemicals, stormwater runoff, acid mine drainage, non-indigenous species, forest, mining, and agricultural management practices, and climate change on aquatic, marine, estuarine, and terrestrial systems at the landscape scale.