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Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship

We are a dedicated institute for student entrepreneurs across campus and beyond. We aim to maximize your success by fostering your entrepreneurial mindset, promote inter-disciplinary collaboration and provide support for the creation and development of your new ventures. Jumpstart your ideas and get involved today!

Tune in for excitement!

Passion. Potential. Pitches. Don't miss any of the 2025 New Venture Challenge excitement.

Tune in Friday, April 11 at 1 p.m. for great ideas and fierce competition. Then, join the judges, mentors, spectators and teams as they see who is going home with thousands of dollars in venture financing. The awards broadcast begins at 6:30 p.m. and one team will walk away as the overall best venture. 

Start your entrepreneurial journey

Central Michigan University’s College of Business Administration is the home of the Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship and the first Department of Entrepreneurship in the state of Michigan. We are a student-centric hub where experiential, curricular, and external entrepreneurial opportunities intersect.

Our mission is to maximize student success by fostering a campus-wide entrepreneurial mindset that promotes inter-disciplinary collaboration and the creation of new ventures.

We aim to create innovative programming, boost cross-campus and ecosystem collaboration and provide a comprehensive mentoring program.

Our institute provides extracurricular opportunities and is open to all undergraduate and graduate CMU students.

Student opportunities

  • Meet experienced alumni, faculty, entrepreneurs, investors, and other business and political leaders.
  • Learn practical skills, innovative thinking, and connect with mentors and entrepreneurial resources.
  • Attend skill-building workshops and compete in pitch competitions and Hackathons.
  • Take part in special scholarship programs and travel experiences.
  • Pitch your venture at our signature New Venture Challenge event and compete for up to $20,000 in cash awards.

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      Are you interested in becoming an entrepreneur?

      Every journey is unique. Explore the opportunities that interest you.

      CMU research team tackles wetland management in Michigan’s state game areas

      by Robert Wang

      A team of researchers from Central Michigan University’s College of Science and Engineering is working to help the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) better manage some of the state’s most vital wetland habitats. Funded by the DNR, the four-year project is now entering its second year and is focused on two major locations: the Shiawassee River and Pointe Mouillee State Game Areas.

      “These areas are used for recreation, including waterfowl hunting in the fall, but they also serve as important ecosystems,” said Dr. Rod Lammers, the project’s lead investigator and a faculty member in CMU’s School of Engineering and Technology. “We’re looking at how different ways of managing these wetlands affect things like water quality, greenhouse gas emissions, flood mitigation, plant life, and bird usage.”

      Each site contains multiple "impounded wetland units", wetlands completely surrounded by dikes or levees, allowing DNR managers to control water levels throughout the year. Some units are flooded year-round, resembling more natural wetlands, while others are drained and even farmed during summer months, then re-flooded just before hunting season.

      Lammers, along with collaborators Drs. Amanda Suchy and Don Uzarski from CMU’s Department of Biology, hope their research will give the DNR data-driven insights to guide future management decisions.

      “This is a very applied research project,” Lammers said. “Our goal is to help the DNR effectively manage these wetlands to maximize ecosystem services, like improving water quality and  providing diverse habitat, while still supporting recreation.”

      The interdisciplinary team also includes Earth and Ecosystem Science (EES) Ph.D. student Bridget Wheelock, research technician Maureen Aloff, and undergraduate students Ainsley Reser and Julia Shablin. This summer, Reser will present her findings at the Society of Freshwater Science conference in Puerto Rico, showcasing the important work happening at CMU to a national audience.

      Two new undergraduates will also be joining the project this summer as the team continues collecting and analyzing data.

      With two years of work still ahead, the research could have a significant impact on how Michigan manages its state game areas, balancing conservation and recreation for years to come.

      Questions?