The mission of the Department of Environment, Geology, and Natural Resources (EGNR) is to explore Earth’s environmental systems, including water, food, and climate, through interdisciplinary teaching and research to prepare our students and community to become well-informed stewards of sustainable, functioning modern societies.
We are a student-centered department and work to provide our students with the most personalized and hands-on experiences possible. Our students not only learn traditional ideas and techniques in the classroom, but also become involved in our communities where they use what they have learned to help solve real-world issues.
If you are willing and able to give, we welcome you to give directly to our department. Funds donated this year will go to the following focus areas for both the NREM and Geology sides of our program. Here are details about how your donations would be used:
The Food Hub and Student Farm - Drs. Haeft and Gruver lead EGNR's efforts to teach our students about sustainable agriculture and sustainable food systems. Our students have been integral to developing the student farm, which is just five minutes from campus. There, students plan, plant, maintain, and harvest a huge variety of produce, which will soon be able to be donated and sold to community members living in low food access areas of our community. The Food Hub's Mobile Farmers Market, also co-developed and operated by our students, will move the food from the farm to food desert areas in our community. Both of these efforts are incredibly rewarding for our students and helpful to our community. Your donations would help with things like purchasing equipment to make these operations more successful. We currently need funds to help run our produce donation program. Funds to the Food Hub Project will be used for things such as growing produce on our farm this growing season '25 for donation to people living in food desert areas of our community.
Explore Geology Travel Fund - Our program in Environmental Geoscience is a great way for our students to apply their knowledge to real-world environmental topics and make a positive difference in preserving and protecting our environment. Our B.S. degree in Environmental Geoscience prepares students to apply natural sciences to the real world and equips them for a variety of career opportunities for example, environmental consulting and at state government agencies, such as IDNR or USGS.
In order for our students to get the best training and the best field experiences possible, we need help reducing student costs to experience field trips to see geology and experience geological processes in other parts of the country. Getting a diversified background in geosciences is essential for learning new skills and job placement. Your contributions will help our department cover costs for student trips and educational experiences.
We are so grateful for your continued support!
If you aren’t in a position to give right now, no problem. We completely understand. We appreciate everything you already do for our department and our students.
Thank you for your commitment to Ball State University.
All your donations are used to help create a better learning environment for our students. Just Click the GIVE NOW button at the top and choose the fund you want to support.
