Researchers in DEES are interested in how environmental change impacts the earth’s surface and its inhabitants. Several projects conducted in DEES are directly related to questions related to the causes and impacts of climate change. These range from improving detection of past climate records in ice cores to directly assessing the impacts of changes in global temperature on water CO₂ exchange between the atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems. Several studies are ongoing assessing the potential impacts of climate change on water availability in Nevada. Finally, researchers in DEES are active in educating high school students and teachers as well as the general public about climate change.

DEES research projects related to "Climate Change" are listed below.

• Investigation of the Stratigraphy and Time Scale of the WAIS Divide Ice Core Using Electrical Methods (McGwire)
• Collaborative Research: Establishing the Chronology and Histories of Accumulation and Ice Dynamics for the WAIS Divide Core (McGwire)
• Assessing the Envelope of Interannual Variation in Vegetation (Fenstermaker)
• Effects of Climate Change on Spring Ecosystem Hydroecology as a guide to Developing Alternative Water Policies (Sharpe)
• Desert Terminal Lakes - Water Resources Evaluation Program  (Arnone, Jasoni, Fenstermaker, Kratt)
• Walker Basin Project, Phase 2 (Arnone, Jasoni, Moser)
• NSF EPSCoR Climate Change program, Nevada Climate Transect Network (Arnone, Fenstermaker, Jasoni, Larsen, Lancaster)
• Nevada's Climate Change High School Science Fair network (Buck)
• Partnerships for InterMountain Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (IM-CLEAN) (Buck)