The Roberts Environmental Center
Mission Statement
The Roberts Environmental Center seeks to contribute to the practical solutions of pressing environmental challenges through research and engagement with the private, public, and non-profit sectors. REC student analysts gain analytical and leadership skills through these efforts.
About
The principal goal of the Roberts Environmental Center (REC) is to involve students in real-world environmental issues and to train them to analyze the issues from as broad a perspective as possible, taking science, economics, and policy into consideration. Based in Claremont McKenna College, the Center strives to cultivate environmental leadership within its student body.
The quality of the environment figures importantly in a wide range of public issues and will continue to be a political, economic, and business concern of worldwide significance. Named for CMC alumnus George R. Roberts ’66, the Roberts Environmental Center conducts environmental research and analysis, and promotes understanding of the complex issues of environmental protection, economic growth and technological change.
The center works toward the achievement of a balance between essential progress in society and the preservation of precious natural resources. The goal of the Roberts Center is to provide students with a comprehensive and realistic understanding of today’s environmental issues, and the ways in which they are being and can be resolved.
An intentional by-product for our graduates is the accumulation of technological skills when approaching complex environmental issues. The Roberts Center itself owns a state-of-the-art computer laboratory operating geographical information system (GIS), data modeling, simulation modeling, database management, and statistical analysis software.
The Roberts Environmental Center takes on environmental consulting assignments when they serve an academic purpose, utilizing students and professional staff drawn from the faculty of the Claremont Colleges and the Southern California area. In addition to its facilities in Claremont, the Robert Environmental Center directs the Burger Sierra Research Station off Tioga Pass in the eastern Sierra Nevada, overlooking Mono Lake and just a few miles from Yosemite National Park. This 160-acre reserve houses students and faculty engaged in summer internships, thesis projects and field research activities.