The Goodwin-Niering Center for Conservation Biology and Environmental Studies is an interdisciplinary program that draws on the expertise and interests of faculty and students in the liberal arts to address contemporary ecological challenges. The Center strives to integrate all areas of learning to deal with the issues of sustainability and the natural environment. Building on a scientific understanding of the natural world, the Center invites the social sciences, the humanities, and the arts to help understand and solve difficult environmental issues.

Goals of the Goodwin-Niering Center for Conservation Biology and Environmental Studies are:

• Foster an understanding of fundamental environmental issues, including biological diversity and the preservation of natural ecosystem integrity, both in the College community and the public sphere.
• Foster an understanding of the interaction between people and environmental systems, with special emphasis on the political, social and economic factors that influence natural resource use.
• Encourage the integration of environmental issues and themes into courses and student projects in the social sciences, humanities, arts and natural sciences.
• Develop resources to support and encourage faculty and student research in environmental studies, with special emphasis on long-term ecological research.
• Develop resources to support and strengthen the Connecticut College Environmental Studies Program and its majors.
• Encourage and facilitate College environmental programs and projects such as the Environmental Model Committee, the Facilities and Land Management Committee, and the Arboretum.

Adopted October 1997