Facilities & Research Centers

Facilities

Soils Lab
Cina 320

Geographic Information Sciences Laboratory (GISL)
Cina 326

CLA Technology Classroom
Humanities 458

Research Centers:

CCRR

The primary focus of the Center for Community and Regional Research (CCRR)is community-based education at UMD, providing faculty and students in the social and natural sciences and related fields the opportunity to work with local and regional community organizations. With this focus, students apply research skills and principles of social engagement and analysis, UMD faculty receive funding for projects in which they apply their expert knowledge and skills in a real-world local context, and local organizations, communities and agencies benefit through research on issues central to them. CCRR is a unit of the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) at UMD. CLA enables the Center to better link with other research and outreach initiatives in the College, and at UMD, therefore creating greater and farther reaching opportunities for students, faculty and communities.

The Center for Sustainable Community Development (CSCD) was created to help communities transition from global dependence to community self-reliance by designing and implementing economically attractive, as well as socially and environmentally sustainable, local energy production systems. We are constantly researching the costs, technical specifications, environmental benefits and local economic development potential of old and emerging renewable energy technologies (ie., wind, solar, biofuels, hydrogen etc.,) along with a given communities unique endowment of resources (ie., wind, biomass, etc.,) to design and implement effective community-scale renewable energy production technologies. In the last 5 years we have worked with numerous communities at a wide variety of stages in this design and implementation process.

The Geographic Information Sciences Laboratory (GISL) provides a hands-on learning environment for students in GIS and remote sensing. GISL staff can provide many GIS services and assistance in the classroom or in research projects. Data storage and hardware checkout is also available. The technical services of the GISL may include: data editing, statistical analyses, data formatting, and spatial analysis in GIS research. GISL contracted services with internal and external entities includes GIS project design, identification of system and data needs, data acquisition, budget estimates, analysis and oversight of projects. Software used includes ArcGIS 9.x, ERDAS Imagine, and other appropriate tools.

The Sustainable Agriculture Project (SAP) at the University of Minnesota, Duluth (SAP@UMD) formed in 2009 to institute education, research, and community engagement around local food systems and food security in the western Lake Superior region. SAP@UMD is an interdisciplinary faculty collaborative that provides overall leadership and is housed in the Center for Sustainable Community Development. SAP@UMD was awarded stewardship over fifteen acres at UMD's Research and Field Studies Center (formerly the Northeast Agricultural Experimental Station), including a five acre heritage apple orchard and a ten acre field, for which we use as an experiential learning and research site; we also utilize the extensive 20th century agriculture archives of the region housed in UMD's Northeast Minnesota Historical Center for faculty research and student teaching. We work closely with the UMD student group Students for Sustainable Agriculture; and we work with the University for Seniors at UMD. Our institutional partners at UMD include Facilities and Management, the Office of Sustainability, and the Office of Civic Engagement. We also collaborate with a host of community organizations with interests in food, farming and gardening issues and activities.