From the Executive Director

Welcome to the portal to the study of the North American West! The Bill Lane Center for the American West is dedicated to advancing scholarly and public understanding of the past, present, and future of western North America. The Center supports research, teaching, and reporting about western land and life in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

In January 2008, the Bill Lane Center moved to the The Jerry Yang & Akiko Yamazaki Environment & Energy Building or "Y2E2." The building was designed to have the smallest possible impact on the environment while having an enormous effect on collaborative research and education in the arts and sciences. Y2E2 was designed to have a smaller carbon footprint, to use 50 percent less energy, and to use 90 percent less water than would a traditional building of comparable scale.

The identity of this region and the experience of living in the West are so closely tied to the environment - the persistent aridity in the vast majority of the region, the mountains, the ocean, the wealth of natural resources - that research, teaching, and conferences about the environment naturally became central to what we do at the Bill Lane Center.

With our move to Y2E2, we're now in close quarters with colleagues whose research in environmental sciences, engineering, and law can be marshaled, along with the Bill Lane Center's strengths in the social sciences and humanities, to develop innovative responses to the growing environmental threats in the West. When we also consider that the West is likely to be the leading producer of alternative energy for this country, the Bill Lane Center is delighted to join the Environment and Energy community.

We hope you will take a look at our course offerings and attend some of our events and conferences this year.

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