Environmental Institute
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College created the Environmental Institute concept on campus to actively promote the educational and cultural growth of the community in studies covering natural resources and the environment. Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College uses the Environmental Institute as the vehicle in environmental resource areas to follow all points of the College's mission and coordinate ongoing education, research, outreach, and other activities.

This emphasis also allows Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College to fulfill its status as a United States Land Grant Institution by “being a people’s college and solving problems which benefit people.” A campus team coordinates programs and initiatives of the Environmental Institute and is advised by resource experts from within the community, including local science teachers, Department of Natural Resources and county resource managers, tribal officials, interested individuals, public officials, and citizen-groups.

Accomplishments in recent years include: increased science facilities and equipment to conduct sophisticated and advanced lab and field research; installation of a Geographic Information System lab on campus; reached underserved people through implementing an associate of science degree in Environmental Science; established a transfer articulation agreement with four-year degree institutions; enhanced and expanded course offerings; developed ongoing research projects on the Environmental Study Area; and provided work opportunities for students and graduates in resource-oriented fields.

A variety of land grant related science projects have been successfully completed or are ongoing through Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College’s Environmental Institute. All of the projects require collaborative work with community agencies and/or other educational institutions.

Wild Rice Lake Restoration
This project was a tribal college research project that studied the long-term recovery of a wild rice lake ecosystem. Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College students were hired to assist in the field data collection and laboratory analysis of lake sediment and vegetation data in order to determine the pathways of restoration on wild rice lakes located on or near the Fond du Lac Reservation. This project was completed in 2006, concluding that although mechanical removal of invasive species is effective in the short-term for wild rice productivity, better long-term management strategies should be employed to ensure continued viability of the wild rice in Perch Lake. The Wild Rice Lake Restoration project was funded by the USDA and research was conducted in partnership with the University of Minnesota-Natural Resources Research Institute and the Fond du Lac Reservation Natural Resources Division.

Woodlands Wisdom
The Woodlands Wisdom project focused on increasing American Indian involvement and education in human nutrition, specifically as it relates to alleviating the issues related to Type II diabetes. The project established an associate of science degree in Nutrition that was articulated with the University of Minnesota. The degree program was fully established in 2004 and the project concluded in 2006. The Woodlands Wisdom project was funded by the USDA and included educational partners Turtle Mountain Community College, White Earth Tribal College, Leech Lake Tribal College, LCO Ojibwe Community College, College of Menominee Nation, and the University of Minnesota.

Great Lakes Northern Forest Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit
The Great Lakes Northern Forest Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit is a collaboration designed to provide research, technical assistance, and education to federal land management, environmental and research agencies and their potential partners. The collaboration involves the biological, physical, social and cultural sciences as they relate to addressing resource issues and interdisciplinary problem-solving at multiple scales and in an ecosystem context at the local, regional, and national level. The CESU is hosted by the University of Minnesota and includes twenty-three partners, including Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College. Other project partners include Haskell Indian Nations University, Michigan State University, Minnesota State University-Mankato, University of Iowa, University of Wisconsin-Madison, American Indian Science and Engineering Society, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, The Nature Conservancy of Minnesota, and the Science Museum of Minnesota. The collaboration is ongoing.

Environmental Study Area
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College’s Environmental Study Area (ESA) consists of 2,140 acres of wild land immediately adjacent to the St. Louis River in northern Minnesota, and the nearest portion of the ESA is located only five minutes from campus. The property is owned by the State of Minnesota (2,100 acres) and Carlton County (40 acres) and is administered by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and Carlton County Tax Forfeited Land Department. Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College has entered into a long-term cooperative agreement with each agency that allows Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College to exclusively coordinate all resource and environmental research and educational activities on the land. The landowners retain managerial rights and the same liability as for other public holdings. All partners resolve to consider the agreement when conducting projects or planning long-range programs. Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College is advised by the St. Louis River Integrated Resource Management (IRM) Team from the Minnesota DNR, the Carlton County Land Department, and the St. Louis River Board, with input from others in the community.

Consistent with Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College’s mission regarding education and its status as a federal land grant institution, Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College’s Environmental Science program uses this property as an outdoor classroom for students and others in order to intertwine the knowledge of science technology with traditional understandings of the natural world, such as cultural ethnobotany or medicinal plants. They also conduct relevant research dealing with ecology, water quality, and the natural systems and populations. An emphasis is placed on disseminating research results to the community.

The Environmental Study Area (ESA) consists of two tracts, referred to as ESA #1 and ESA #2. ESA #1 is a 1,160 acre tract bordering the eastern edge of the St. Louis River. The parcel includes the confluence of the Cloquet River and St. Louis River as well as an abandoned channel of the St. Louis River. ESA #1 is fifteen miles by road from the campus in Cloquet, and all land immediately across the St. Louis River is within the Fond du Lac Reservation. The property is an excellent example of semi-pristine river frontage. It has been logged and is used heavily for hunting, but contains no evidence of permanent man-made disturbance, such as farming or buildings. The river immediately upstream from ESA #1 is also forested and there is no major settlement or industry. There are riparian and upland ecosystems as well as black spruce peat bogs. The rivers contain mixed aquatic ecosystems from riffles to deep open water. There is a variety of habitats on the property containing many species of plants and animals. Vegetation ranges from submergent macrophytes to terrestrials, and crown layers from low ground cover to full forest canopy. Animals include aquatic macro-invertebrates and upland mammals and birds, including American eagles and other raptors.

ESA #2 is a 980 acre tract located just north of the town of Carlton. The parcel is one mile east of the Cloquet campus and includes both sides of the St. Louis River. While the property also represents undeveloped wild land of the region, the proximity to urban areas has allowed heavier daily use by hunters, ATV riders, and hikers. However, there are no buildings or permanent structures on the land. The water column for this section of the river is in-between the extremes of the other study area. This river portion consists of a year-round full flow but not the deep channel or the shallow pools found in the other tract. However, ESA #2 contains three small feeder streams and one spring dry-run. The tract includes a mixture of aquatic, riparian, and terrestrial ecosystems, including an expanse of wetland grasses and a well-defined forest stand of mature white pine. The area provides habitat for a variety of plants and animals of the region, and most representative species from the area are found in the tract.

Projects that have been or are conducted on the ESA tracts include the St. Louis River River Watch project, a DNR tree planting project, surveys on old-growth white pines, and a raptor study on fall migration along the St. Louis River in conjunction with the identification of the northern part of the ESA tract as a potential wind turbine site by Minnesota Power, a local electrical utility company. Biology and Geographic Information Systems students, as well as other departments, currently utilize the tracts for classroom projects. In the past, students prepared GIS overlays for both tracts from boundary survey, topography, soil map, and vegetation description data. The project also included field inspections by faculty and students. These data are used in current courses.