Our Mission:

The mission of the Environmental Resources Center is to promote the understanding and conservation of the natural resources of the region through scientific research, educational opportunities and outreach.

The ERC is a Center of Excellence at Purdue University Fort Wayne, operating within its not for profit status as a public institution.

Our Vision:

The  ERC will be a regionally focused, environmentally focused organization with substantial research capacity, not dedicated to the acquisition of land or the management of specific parcels, and that is free of administrative “boundaries” in terms of operation. We will provide objective guidance, explore solutions, and work to bridge gaps in mission and communication. We will be well-positioned to support a formal structure which focuses on environmental issues, with an array of faculty with complementary interests and expertise in natural resources. Our activities will provide additional avenues for recognizing and celebrating the accomplishments of our faculty working on natural resource issues, as well as provide additional means for marketing those capabilities to public, private, and not-for-profit sectors. The Center will encourage opportunities for multidisciplinary collaboration, both on campus and in the community. The ERC will foster student success, promote the creation, integration and application of knowledge, serve as a regional intellectual hub, and create a stronger university through improving the support of stakeholders of Purdue Fort Wayne.

Fort Wayne and vicinity have a rich heritage of natural resources, most obviously the rivers coursing through the area, but also parks, forests, and wetlands. A diversity of plant and animal wildlife lives year-round or traverses through during various migrations. Water and soil are also sources of natural wealth in the area. All of these natural resources are embedded in a landscape variably dominated by agricultural, urban and residential development. It is thus in this interplay of nature and human activity that we conduct our activities. The ERC is a local, environmentally-focused organization with substantial research capacity unburdened by mandates and jurisdictional boundaries for its operation. As such we can provide objective guidance, explore solutions, and work to bridge gaps in mission and communication.