Center for the Environment

Our Mission

The Center for Sustainability and the Environment is an interdisciplinary center that fosters dialogue and supports solutions to local and regional sustainability and environmental issues.  The Center supports Merrimack’s environmental curriculum, hands-on environmental scholarship and learning,  innovation, and reciprocal community partnerships.

Students CSE Banner

The Center is supported by a generous gift from the McLaughlin Martin Family Environmental Innovation Fund.  To learn more about the McLaughlin Martin Family click here.

Environmental Focus

The Center is under auspices of the Office of the Provost and is closely affiliated with the Environmental Science and Sustainability program.  The Center’s mission is focused on providing support to these interdisciplinary academic programs, seeking and developing student experiential learning opportunities that are linked to the curriculum, catalyzing and helping manage community partnerships, providing four-season programming for the campus and the broader community, and supporting interdisciplinary dialogue on sustainability and environmental issues.

The Center is synced with the academic facets of our environmental curriculum, namely:

  • Environmental Business and Policy
  • Environmental Science
  • Social Sustainability
  • Environmental Analysis
  • Environmental and Natural Systems
  • Environmental Operations

Current projects and initiatives are focused on supporting Applied Environmental Research, Local Food, Energy and Climate, and Student Green Team Initiatives.  These four areas of focus and practice are in alignment with the college’s mission that calls for Merrimack to engage in collaborative efforts fostering a just, peaceful and sustainable world.

Core Priorities

The Center is an interdisciplinary and interconnected component of both the college and the surrounding community.  Through our operations, programs, partnerships and collective effort with our affiliated faculty and staff, we strive to:

  • Support environmental inquiry and our environmental curriculum
  • Embrace experiential education through catalyzing project-based learning, internships, co-ops and service
  • Strengthen and coordinate reciprocal partnerships with our local community
  • Increase opportunities for students to collaborate with faculty on applied environmental and sustainability research
  • Facilitate dialogue, promote knowledge transfer and build environmental capacity to address local, national and global environmental issues
  • Save financial and natural resources by exploring innovation in the implementation of campus sustainability measures

CLIMATE NEWS

IPCC Climate Change and Land report.  To read summary click here.

Fourth National Climate Assessment Report released. To learn more, and download the report click here. For a summary of the findings click here

The Massachusetts Comprehensive Energy Plan was released on December 12th.  To see the report click here.