Through an initiative launched in July of 2006, scientists from the University of Tennessee (UT) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have joined researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) to establish the China-US Joint Research Center for Ecosystem and Environmental Change.

The JRCEEC, which occupies research facilities at UT/ORNL and CAS, addresses the combined effects of climate change and human activities on regional and global ecosystems and explores technologies for restoration of degraded environments.