The immediate environment of galaxies is known to influence
their growth through various physical processes.  Given the close
connection between galaxies and their supermassive black holes, as
seen through a number of observed relations (e.g., M-sigma), we expect
to find that the environment plays a role in regulating the level of
AGN activity.  I will present results from an observational study
using the zCOSMOS spectroscopic survey and XMM-Newton observations to
determine if the environment is responsible for driving the
order-of-magnitude decline in star formation and AGN activity from z~1
to the present.  Furthermore, I will show preliminary results from a
complementary study to look more closely at AGN activity in nearby
galaxy groups (z~0.05), an environment thought to be highly conducive
to black hole growth given the heightened efficiency for galaxy
mergers.