PEMBROKE — The University of North Carolina at Pembroke is partnering with N.C. State University to open a new research center that will focus on the production of sustainable protein sources, including plant-based products and meat grown from animal cells.

The Bezos Center for Sustainable Protein that launched last month on N.C. State’s Raleigh campus is funded by a $30 million grant from the Bezos Earth Fund, a philanthropic group founded by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos. UNC Pembroke will get about $350,000 of the money for travel grants, research opportunities for students and student internship salaries.

The initiative has the potential to position Robeson County and the state as leaders in the fast-growing sustainable protein industry, which has a market size of $14 billion and has been touted as a powerful means of combating climate change.

“This should stimulate a large workforce opportunity for the economy in North Carolina in general,” said Dr. Bryan Sales, an assistant professor and agriculture program director at UNCP who will lead the university’s partnership with the center. “And that’s kind of why I wanted to have a piece of that for Robeson County.”

The center is the first of its kind in the country and will focus on developing new biomanufacturing methods for a variety of sustainable proteins. The Bezos Earth Fund has opened another center at Imperial College London and has plans to open a third in Southeast Asia in the coming months.

North Carolina was chosen as the location because of the state’s large agriculture industry, which contributed over $100 billion to the state’s economy in 2022. The state’s strong biomanufacturing and biotechnology industry also contributed to the Bezos Earth Fund’s decision, said Dr. Rohan Shirwaiker, an N.C. State professor and co-director of the center.

“This is really putting us at the national and global forefront of research, education, industry engagement and everything in this domain really,” Shirwaiker said.

UNCP’s role in the partnership will focus on workforce development. Three UNCP students will be chosen in the fall for internships in which they will learn sustainable agriculture methods and contribute to the center’s research projects. Working with the center will teach students valuable skills they can use to get jobs in the growing sustainable protein industry, Shirwaiker said.

Shirwaiker also hopes that having “ready access” to a trained workforce will encourage new sustainable protein companies to come to North Carolina.

N.C. State wanted to partner with UNCP in part because of the university’s connection to the agricultural community in Robeson County. Robeson had 732 farms in 2022, and over 300,000 hogs are slaughtered in the county each year according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The goal is not to replace existing animal agriculture in North Carolina, but to work in harmony with it, Shirwaiker said. In the future, the center hopes to develop partnerships with local farmers who can supply raw materials needed for research.

“We really want communities to be a part of this effort to grow and secure our food systems for the future,” Shirwaiker said.