The Environmental and Natural Resource Technology (EARTh) Center at Central Carolina Community College is an NSF Advanced Technological Education National Center. We are dedicated to advancing environmental technology education and supporting the environmental technology industry through collaboration and innovation.
Key initiatives the EARTh Center promotes are:
- Best Practices Sharing: Encourage the development and dissemination of best practices in environmental technology education
- Collaboration and Mentorship: Foster partnerships among existing and new ATE projects to mentor new and prospective principal investigators, expanding the impact of ATE initiatives
- Partnership Development: Provide models for collaborations between secondary schools, colleges, businesses, industries, and government agencies to promote growth in environmental technology fields
- Career Promotion: Actively promote careers in environmental technology, inspiring the next generation of skilled professionals
- Education and Professional Development: Support the education of highly skilled technicians and offer professional development opportunities for faculty
- Diversity and Inclusion: Commit to reaching underrepresented groups, including women, economically challenged students, first-generation learners, and those from rural and Indigenous communities
- Sustainability: Focus on developing strategies to sustain activities beyond the life of the grant
The EARTh Center utilizes the newly developed Defining Environmental Technology Report to implement impactful activities such as curriculum support services and professional development opportunities for students and faculty. The Defining Environmental Technology Report document and chart were created through collaboration with industry experts, past and present environmental tech instructors, and relevant nonprofit organizations.
