Tea center: center for environmental research and innovation

The National Science Foundation Division of Undergraduate Education awarded White Earth Tribal and Community College $2.5 million on September 1, 2026, under the Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) Enterprise Advancement Centers strand to establish the Center for Environmental Research and Innovation (CERI) at the institution.

CERI delivers applied research, education, entrepreneurship, and workforce development focused on sustainable agriculture, alternative energy, and integrated food and energy systems to address food and energy security challenges on the White Earth Reservation. The center integrates scientific research with a STEM business incubator, leveraging artificial intelligence for data-driven decision-making while fostering economic development through entrepreneurship training, workforce readiness programs, mentorship, and commercialization of innovations. CERI operates as a regional model in Northwest Minnesota for combining research, STEM education, and community-driven innovation in partnership with tribal agencies and STEM professionals.

The award funds performance through August 31, 2031, with place of performance in Mahnomen, Minnesota. WETCC, a federally recognized 1994 Land Grant College and tribally owned non-profit serving the White Earth Ojibwe Nation and surrounding regions, is the recipient. The funding flows under the STEM Education program (CFDA 47.076), which supports the Nation's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education enterprise. CERI directly generates STEM employment opportunities and develops the high-skilled workforce required to fill those roles, strengthening the economic capacity of the White Earth Reservation and surrounding communities.

Abstract

The TCU enterprise advancement centers (tea centers) strand allows tcup institutions to capitalize on their investments in stem instruction and research. A goal of the tribal colleges and universities program (tcup) is to increase the intellectual leadership of tcup institutions so that they can address scientific or engineering needs or interests, specifically for their tribes or communities, or broadly for the nation. This project, which establishes the center for environmental research and innovation (ceri) at white earth tribal and community college (wetcc), aligns directly with that goal. This tea center directly impacts the economic strength of the white earth reservation and surrounding communities by fostering new stem employment opportunities and, through multiple pathways, providing the high-skilled workforce required for those opportunities, in partnership with tribal agencies and stem professionals. Through ceri, wetcc addresses critical food security and energy security challenges on the white earth reservation through interdisciplinary stem research, education, entrepreneurship, and workforce development. Anchored by cutting-edge scientific research and a stem business incubator, ceri empowers students, faculty, and community members to CO-develop scalable, community-grounded solutions. Ceri focuses on applied research in sustainable agriculture, alternative energy, and integrated food and energy systems, leveraging artificial intelligence to optimize data-driven decision-making and system performance, while fostering economic development through entrepreneurship training, workforce readiness programs, mentorship, and commercialization of innovations. Ceri serves as a regional model in northwest minnesota for integrating scientific research, stem education, and community-driven innovation. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.