Environmental Studies Celebrates Earth Day

Every year, the nation celebrates Earth Day on April 22. But that is no reason to limit the festivities to just one day. Here at Seton Hall, students in the environmental studies program marked the occasion with a month of activities to raise environmental awareness and promote environmental scholarship.

Events began on Tuesday, April 9, when the environmental studies program welcomed to campus David Mizejewski of the National Wildlife Federation. A noted naturalist and television personality, Mizejewski spoke to students about "Building a More Sustainable World: One Backyard at a Time." In his presentation, he reminded listeners that if we want to protect wildlife and biodiversity, we need to ensure that we cultivate healthy habitats, starting with our own backyards. Too often, in our efforts to rid our backyards of weeds and insects, we produce sterile landscapes that fail to provide animals with the food, protection and habitats they need to thrive.

The following Sunday, April 14, Bryce Leatham, a junior political science major with a minor in environmental studies, spoke as part of a panel on "Ecology Justice – Youth Leading the Way: Protecting the Earth for the Future." The event, which brought together local high school and college students to share their perspectives on climate activism, was hosted by First Presbyterian Church and Trinity Church in South Orange. Leatham, who is also a member of Seton Hall’s Brownson Speech and Debate Team, presented on the theme of climate anxiety and how that shapes his generation.

On Tuesday, May 23, students in Professor Jacob Weger, Ph.D.’s environmental studies capstone course presented their research during the university’s annual Petersheim Academic Exposition. Working in teams, students in the class spent the semester investigating topics of their own choosing. One group investigated the environmental costs and benefits of artificial turf, demonstrating how the health and environmental impact of chemicals and plastic waste often get overlooked in discussions that tend to focus on short term savings and convenience. Another turned their attention to the Tiny Forest initiative, a movement that originated in Japan as a way of generating bio-diverse ecosystems on small plots, often in dense urban areas or on abandoned lands. The third group, comprised of students in the program’s environmental education track, looked into the potential sustainability benefits of reducing the school week from five to four days.

On Earth Day itself, students and faculty from the environmental studies program joined Campus Ministry in celebrating the day with a special "Mass on the Grass." Beautiful spring weather allowed for the campus’s noon mass to move from the campus chapel to the chapel of the outdoors.

For more information about the environmental studies program, click here.

Categories: Campus Life, Education