Indiana University of Pennsylvania will celebrate Earth Day on April 25 with “Dig Into Earth Day” from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., sponsored by the IUP Students for Sustainability in collaboration with IUP Navigators.
Events will be centered in the Oak Grove, with presentations by faculty planned for the IUP Performing Arts Fisher Auditorium patio.
Faculty-led programs include Ellen Yerger, Department of Biology, speaking on “Forests that Sustain Wildlife” at 10:30 a.m.; a campus plant walk from 11:00 a.m. to noon led by Dana Driscoll, Department of Language, Literature and Writing, identifying medicinal and edible plants on IUP’s campus; “What People Can and Can’t Do to Affect Climate Change” at 1:00 p.m. with Jonathan Warnock, Department of Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences; and “Sustainability Takes Solidarity: Four Insights from Anthropology” with Amanda Poole, Department of Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences, at 2:00 p.m.
During the plant walk, Driscoll will discuss how to get started in foraging, foraging ethics, safety, opportunities for learning more, and how to use foraging as ancient people did to cultivate a reciprocal relationship and care for the earth.
The Navigators are IUP staff members who are part of IUP’s Student Success Infrastructure. The Navigators will provide 300 succulent plants, potting soil, pots, and decorations for plants for students to pot their own plants starting at 11:00 a.m. until supplies last.
Yard games and information tables will be in the Oak Grove throughout the day. A giveaway at 4:00 p.m. with prizes celebrating the sustainability theme will end the “Dig into Earth Day” events.
In addition to the “Dig Into Earth Day” program, the IUP Libraries will offer “Dig Into Spring” from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. in the Stapleton Library Atrium on April 25, offering an opportunity to plant a seed or plant cutting. All events are free and open to the community.
IUP’s Students for Sustainability includes 85 members, and the group meets weekly. Yerger is the club’s faculty advisor.
This group has been active on campus, including leading recycling efforts of cardboard, plastic, and aluminum in IUP’s John and Char Kopchick Hall and transporting materials to the Indiana County Recycling Center. This recycling project is now part of established university work processes.
The Students for Sustainability organize a variety of programs throughout the year, including hosting speakers; webinars on topics related to sustainability, such as careers in conservation and preservation; an annual Sustainability Summit; helping in the community to remove invasive plant species in public areas; working in the Indiana Community Garden; and volunteering with the university’s Fern Hollow site.
“We are a sustainability-focused group hoping to encourage sustainability efforts and discussion among students at IUP through volunteer opportunities like recycling, networking, educational programming, and fun events like Climate Cheers,” Students for Sustainability President Kathleen Gollmer said. Gollmer is an ecology and conservation major from Albion.
“Many of us are ecology or sustainability majors, but our group and our events are open to all.
We are very excited to work with the IUP Navigators for this year’s Earth Day events and with other campus organizations who will be joining the Earth Day celebration,” she said.
“I’m very proud of these students for having regular meetings to talk about sustainability topics in engaging ways,” Yerger said. “The club’s leaders have educated themselves about sustainability issues and are helping other students see what they can do. They discuss issues that will take collective effort to impact, like climate change and privatizing public land, and also issues that individuals can adjust their own habits to impact, like fast fashion and wastefulness.
“The club rolls up their sleeves and recycles in Kopchick Hall, removes invasive plants in parks, spreads mulch in the Fern Hollow native plant garden, and more. They frequently collaborate with other community and student groups’ activities to amplify their impact. Underlying all this is that Students for Sustainability is a group that enjoys doing things together,” she said.