Center for the Environment

The Catawba College Center for the Environment is a key component in our quest to become the leading environmental small college in the Southeast and a national center of distinction.

Since its founding in 1996, the Center has led a living-learning laboratory for campus sustainability that provides hands-on environmental learning opportunities for Catawba’s students while helping them learn how to advocate for and lead positive environmental change. The Center also serves as a research, convening and policy development hub for issues ranging from regional air and water quality to state and national environmental and energy policies.

The Center is housed in a stunning structure that emerges from a sloping stand of hardwood trees at the edge of the College's 189-acre ecological preserve. Every aspect of the building embodies leading sustainability principles, which creates one of the most sought-after spaces for environmental gatherings in North Carolina. Over the years, the Center has hosted leading environmental speakers such as Erin Brockovich and Rocky Mountain Institute co-founder Amory Lovins, and events like the National Environmental Youth Summit and NC Breathe.

In the fall of 2022, the Center for the Environment began a new chapter under its second director. Exciting recent accomplishments include becoming the first college in the Southeast and the thirteenth nationally to be certified as carbon neutral by Second Nature, launching the NC Clean Future Project in a partnership with Wake Forest University and obtaining the College’s initial AASHE STARS rating of Gold. The Center aspires to be nationally recognized in the fields of environmental stewardship and energy and environmental policy.

National Environmental Summit

National Environmental Summit

for High School Students

This annual summit empowers high school students to discover how to create the change needed for a sustainable future, strengthen their creative and collaborative thinking skills, build relationships with like-minded individuals, explore the preserve, and more. 

EnviroSmart Schools

EnviroSmart Schools

The EnviroSmart Schools Program encourages, supports, and recognizes the efforts of all NC P-12 schools that have taken strides to make their schools 21st century institutions of quality and sustainability.

Make a Gift

Make a Gift

Demonstrate your commitment to environmental stewardship by making a contribution to the Catawba College Center for the Environment.  All gifts are tax-deductible.