Center for the Environment
The Catawba College Center for the Environment is a key component in our quest to become the leading environmental small college in the Southeast and a national center of distinction.
Since its founding in 1996, the Center has led a living-learning laboratory for campus sustainability that provides hands-on environmental learning opportunities for Catawba’s students while helping them learn how to advocate for and lead positive environmental change. The Center also serves as a research, convening and policy development hub for issues ranging from regional air and water quality to state and national environmental and energy policies.
The Center is housed in a stunning structure that emerges from a sloping stand of hardwood trees at the edge of the College's 189-acre ecological preserve. Every aspect of the building embodies leading sustainability principles, which creates one of the most sought-after spaces for environmental gatherings in North Carolina. Over the years, the Center has hosted leading environmental speakers such as Erin Brockovich and Rocky Mountain Institute co-founder Amory Lovins, and events like the National Environmental Youth Summit and NC Breathe.
In the fall of 2022, the Center for the Environment began a new chapter under its second director. Exciting recent accomplishments include becoming the first college in the Southeast and the thirteenth nationally to be certified as carbon neutral by Second Nature, launching the NC Clean Future Project in a partnership with Wake Forest University and obtaining the College’s initial AASHE STARS rating of Gold. The Center aspires to be nationally recognized in the fields of environmental stewardship and energy and environmental policy.
National Environmental Summit
National Environmental Summit
for High School Students
This annual summit empowers high school students to discover how to create the change needed for a sustainable future, strengthen their creative and collaborative thinking skills, build relationships with like-minded individuals, explore the preserve, and more.
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Tour the Facility
Tour the renovated Center for the Environment facility, a great example of the many ways we implement sustainability on Catawba's campus.
A Leading Sustainability College in the Southeast
We look at sustainability holistically and our roles in the environment. We provide our students with the skills and knowledge to change the world. Sustainability is not just an academic program at Catawba College, but a way of life.
Environment and Sustainability Programs
Catawba College’s Center for the Environment will host a presentation on “The Challenges of 21st Century Lion Conservation: Facing the Future” on Wednesday, November 13th, at 6:30 pm in Room 302. Packer’s presentation is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. To register, go to catawba.edu/craigpacker or call 704.637.4791.
After participating in the National Environmental Summit this past July, seven high school students from North Carolina took their learning to the next level by venturing into the wilderness as part of Catawba College’s REACH (Recreation and Educational Adventures Challenging Highschoolers) Program. These young adventurers engaged in a six-night backpacking trek through Panthertown Valley in Western North Carolina, where they camped under the stars and explored the region's rich biodiversity, including its unique plants, animals, and breathtaking waterfalls.
NCICU hosted an Inflation Reduction Act workshop at Catawba College geared towards empowering campuses for sustainable energy projects on July 25, 2024.
