We assemble diverse, interdisciplinary teams of faculty, external experts and students to collaborate on the world’s greatest environmental and sustainability challenges and turn research into service for the common good. Our research isn’t restricted to the lab: we are transforming Georgetown’s campus into a living laboratory where we develop urgently-needed, scalable solutions to green the campus and broader community—and shape the future of our planet.
In a new paper by Green of Georgetown’s Earth Commons Institute, graduate students, the Portion Balance Coalition, the Menus of Change University Research Collaborative (MCURC), and the food waste nonprofit ReFED, researchers found that food left on plates makes up 70% of total restaurant food waste.
March 5, 2026
All, Announcements, Scholarship, University Stories
At a time when rising food costs, shifting consumer appetites, and mounting sustainability pressures are converging on the restaurant industry, research reveals that one of the most overlooked…
March 2, 2026
ECo Faculty Network
Explore over 100 Georgetown faculty furthering research and teaching on complex environmental issues
Below is a list of research programs related to the work of the Earth Commons:
Marra Lab
Director Peter Marra’s research uses birds to help us define and understand broad environmental issues, tackling contemporary conservation challenges by addressing fundamental knowledge gaps at the intersection of ornithology, ecology and conservation biology. The Marra Lab in Georgetown’s Department of Biology investigates migratory connectivity, full annual cycle ecology, urban ecology & applied conservation, Kirtland’s Warbler conservation & management, and identifies the smoking guns in bird declines.
Through the Migratory Connectivity Project, led by Georgetown University and the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center and together with the National Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, we are working on an important and exciting two volume book entitled “Discovering Unknown Migrations: The Atlas of Migratory Connectivity for the Birds of North America.”
