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Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College (FDLTCC) has implemented an Environmental Institute (INSTITUTE) concept on campus by actively promoting the education and cultural growth of the community in studies covering natural resources and the environment. FDLTCC uses the INSTITUTE as the vehicle (in the environmental resource area) to follow all points of the College's mission and coordinate the various ongoing educational, research, outreach, and other resource oriented activities currently underway.
This emphasis also allows FDLTCC to participate as a US Land-Grant Institution by “being a people’s college and solving problems ... which benefit people.” A FDLTCC central team coordinates all programs of the INSTITUTE and is advised by resource experts from within the community, including local science teachers, Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and county resource managers, interested individuals, public officials, and citizen-groups.
The INSTITUTE is currently:
- increasing science facilities/equipment so that students and faculty can increase participation in environmental projects. The College has recently acquired two satellite laboratories as well as some highly sophisticated lab and field equipment. These improvements will allow FDLTCC to offer more complete training in field and lab testing procedures and also provide students and faculty the opportunity to conduct advanced research. In addition, FDLTCC is installing a state-of-the-art Geographic Information System (GIS) work station on campus which will allow FDLTCC to provide students and the community with improved teaching facilities;
- reaching a segment of under served people by offering an Environmental Science course of study in inner-city Minneapolis. The class combined traditional science with a cultural perspective from outstate Minnesota;
- implementing a new curriculum on campus leading to an Associate of Science Degree in Environmental Studies. This degree will provide students the opportunity to either seek immediate jobs in natural sciences or continue their education at a four-year institution. While the curriculum is science specific, it is general enough to allow students to specialize into such fields as forestry, wildlife management, pollution control, or waste management. A transfer articulation agreement between FDLTCC and University of Wisconsin/Superior has been signed with others to follow;
- studying 2,100 acres of wild land along the St. Louis River, called the Environmental Study Area (ESA). This ongoing project involves two tracts of public (State/County) land where the College has a cooperative agreement to coordinate natural resource research and education and a goal to intertwine the knowledge of science technology with traditional understandings of the natural world, such as cultural ethnobotany or medicinal plants. FDLTCC 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; and finally
- providing work opportunities for FDLTCC students and graduates in resource oriented fields. Examples include part-time jobs in the Center of Excellence, Herbarium, GIS, or ESA. Students may also participate on specific projects, which currently include River Watch, Wild Rice Nutrition, Anuran Study, as well as take practicum courses-for-credit (FDLTCC or other institutions.) There are twelve student interns currently working in the natural resource field on campus.
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