Northland College
AC-10: Support for Sustainability Research

Northland College supports student research through individual grants obtained by faculty members, through the "Parsonage Fund" (providing between $40,000-$50,000 each year), and through its research centers. Student outcomes include research into sustainable community development, transportation, food systems, social capital, diversity and inclusion, renewable energy, water pollution, and others (see URL below for current projects). During the past three years, the Burke Center for Freshwater Innovation provided 25 student research positions into sustainability, the Center for Rural Communities provided 40 student sustainability research positions, the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute provided 2 positions, and the other centers also included 16 student research opportunities focusing specifically on sustainability. Many of the projects led to students publishing academic papers as first authors. Please see the attached "Centers Research Outcomes".

The College has a vibrant research program and also collaborates with local agencies, including: the Department of Natural Resources, the Northern Great Lakes Visitors Center, Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, Apostle Island National Park, Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission, University of Wisconsin Extension, Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council, Cable Natural History Museum, local farmers, and other community members.

The College supports interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary research through the diverse relationships forged by the College with various agencies and individuals. Initiatives in sustainable agriculture, sustainable economic development, diversity and inclusion, social justice, gun violence, renewable energy, and so forth are active research programs that reach across multiple facets of sustainability.

Faculty seeking tenure are expected to serve the College and their respective disciplines through their teaching in addition to scholarship including research. Because of the sustainability focus of our institution the majority of faculty research also is sustainability driven.

The library regularly solicits recommendations from the faculty for research-supportive materials and dedicates many of its resources to topics dealing with sustainability. The library's collection-development policy articulates support for the curricular offerings of the College and--because roughly a quarter of Northland's curriculum focuses on sustainability--the library plays an active role in facilitating and strengthening faculty research in sustainability.