About

The Tufts Climate Resilience Institute (CRI) is a two-week pre-college program hosted by Tufts University's Environmental Studies Program in Medford, Massachusetts, designed for high school students interested in climate change, environmental justice, and sustainability. The program takes an explicitly interdisciplinary approach — spanning anthropology, environmental engineering, ecology, urban planning, and political science — with the goal of teaching students to analyze climate resilience through multiple lenses simultaneously.

Students attend lectures by Tufts faculty, researchers, and guest practitioners; participate in field trips to Boston-area community organizations working on climate adaptation; and work in small teams on a college-level capstone research project from question identification through data collection, analysis, and synthesis. College credit is available on a pass/fail basis (pre-matriculation credit; not available to international students). Need-based scholarships are available. The program is residential with a commuter option; 2026 dates should be confirmed on the primary site.

The CRI's pedagogical emphasis on environmental justice — examining who bears the costs of climate change and how communities organize to build resilience — distinguishes it from programs focused purely on climate science or policy. Field trips in prior years have included community organizations in Roxbury and sustainable farms, bringing students into direct contact with practitioners rather than keeping the curriculum purely classroom-based. Founded in 2020, the program is open enrollment with an application process but publishes no selectivity data; prior science or environmental experience is not required.

For a student genuinely passionate about the intersection of climate change, social equity, and policy who wants a serious two-week interdisciplinary immersion at a research university with strong environmental studies faculty, CRI is a well-designed and distinctive option in the pre-college landscape.