The Texas Research Institute for Environmental Studies (TRIES) was established in 1991 to meet the growing need for environmental education, to expand the scope of examination of environmental issues, and to make comprehensive environmental databases readily accessible to all interested groups.

TRIES is a vehicle through which environmental problems can be identified, examined, and studied in their early stages; possible solutions can be presented and evaluated; and mechanisms evaluated to avoid similar situations in the future.

Cooperation with other agencies to share data and avoid redundancy in constructing a successful paradigm to guide environmental policy is a cornerstone of the Institute.