Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the college of agriculture at…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the college of agriculture at tennessee state university is currently hosting thecenter of excellence in natural resources, energy, and the environment (COE-NREE). The primary goals of the NREE are, 1) natural resource management and conservation, 2) sustainable energy and agricultural production, 3) environmental protection and equity, and 4) workforce training and development. These four multidisciplinary thrust areas will coordinate and unify diverse participants via scholarly research. The COE-NREE is employing a one health approach to evaluate the collective impacts of climate change, landuse patterns, and water resource management on ecosystem integrity. These four thrust areas, along with the focal research objectives will provide collaborative opportunities among 1890 institutions and will provide novel approaches to tackle contemporary environmental issues that impact terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The COE-NREE is accomplishing teaching, research, and extension goals through enhanced research, committed graduate student recruitment, retention and training, curricula and faculty development, and development of multidisciplinary research teams. We are using these opportunities to recruit and train students and stakeholders.overall, the proposed center aligns withusda strategic goal 6 to ensure productive and sustainable use of our national forest system landsand provides a collaborative opportunity to establish a research center among five hbcus. The COE-NREE provides unique opportunities to incorporate research into learning and education via proposed mentoring and outreach efforts. In addition, the COE-NREE collaborates to develop the fourth thrust area (workforce training and development). Collectively, project participants are hosting a variety of training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctoral research associates, and faculty. We will develop these training opportunities with a variety of project partners, including the united states geological survey, united states forest service, council of american overseas research councils, and environmental justice academy. Collectively, these training opportunities will be available for all COE-NREE participants and PARTICIPATING1890 institutions.