Mission Statements for Field Station and Environmental Education Center, Ball State University

Educational and Outreach Mission
To promote and support multi-disciplinary environmental education in natural settings for students of all ages.

       The following objectives are defined to meet our educational and outreach mission:

        1.  Provide a diversity of opportunities for students of all ages and interests to observe nature and natural
             processes.
        2.  Provide hands-on training to teachers at all stages of career development that will enable them to expand their
             classrooms to include the natural world.
        3.  Coordinate interdepartmental activities in support of environmental education.
        4.  Maintain field properties for the purpose of providing a diverse array of natural and managed ecosystems.
        5.  Monitor environmental and ecological changes on field station properties using appropriate technologies,
              in support of property maintenance and educational objectives.
        6.  Provide an outdoor laboratory that supports investigations of sustainable land use and restoration of damaged
             ecosystems.
        7.  Provide opportunities for life-long learning about the natural world to the broader community of East Central Indiana.

Research Mission
To promote and support scientific inquiry into the functions and interactions between natural and human-dominated ecosystems
of East Central Indiana and the Midwest in general.

          The following objectives are defined to meet our research mission:

           1.  Provide a setting for biodiversity investigations and experimentation.
           2.  Create a database of flora and fauna present in East Central Indiana.
           3.  Monitor anthropomorphic changes in human-dominated landscapes.
           4.  Investigate long-term effects of alternative management techniques, including but not limited to ecological
                 restoration, for biodiversity and environmental qualities.
           5.  Conduct sustainability research on constructed environments and their  surrounding landscapes.
           6.  Assess learning outcomes for experiential education in field settings.