Cornell University was founded to be a place where “…any person can find instruction in any study.” In alignment with that founding principle, the Helbling Research Group strives to be a welcoming, caring, and equitable research team.

As environmental engineers, our research aims to make the world a better place; we imagine a sustainable future where people live happy and healthy lives while using less of the Earth’s natural resources. We also imagine a future where any person can find opportunities to participate and succeed in their chosen life’s work regardless of race, gender, sexuality, disability, neurodiversity, nationality, religion, or class.

In acknowledgement of this vision, the Helbling Research Group aspires to be inclusive and welcoming to all undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and other academic visitors. We aspire to create a lab culture where all research group members are free to discuss, listen, learn, and reflect on the experiences of all members of the research group and our broader academic community. We aspire to adopt policies and behaviors that contribute to the dismantling of systems of inequality both inside and outside of academia. We are certain that a commitment to these aspirations will allow us all to become better environmental engineers, better scientists, and better people.