Penn State Berks will host an event with Berks County's Parks and Recreation Department as part of the City Nature Challenge. The event, in which participants will observe and identify wildlife and plants in the local environment, will be held on Sunday, April 27. This event is free and open to the public and no experience is required but attendees are encouraged to register in advance.
Spring has sprung at Penn State Berks, and the college’s Sustainability Council will host its annual Earth Day celebration on Monday, April 21. Later that week, on April 23, the Sustainability Council will plant trees donated by PepsiCo in the student commuter parking lot. Then, Penn State Berks will host an event with Berks County's Parks and Recreation Department as part of the City Nature Challenge on Sunday, April 27.
Penn State Berks will mark its decade-long sustainability journey with a presentation titled “Celebrating our Sustainability Journey; Reflecting on the Past and Looking Ahead.” The event will take place from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. on Wednesday, March 26, in the Perkins Student Center Multipurpose Room. The event will include light refreshments and will be open to the public but attendees are encouraged to RSVP in advance.
In December, Penn State Berks hosted its Sustainability Expo, "Connecting Campus and Community," organized and curated by Mahsa Kazempour, associate professor of science education and sustainability council chair. The expo showcased community effort from around Berks County including that of Penn State Berks students, Alvernia University students and organizations around the area.
On Oct. 12, Penn State Global hosted a multi-campus synchronous Day of Service aimed at getting students involved in sustainability work in their communities. More than 80 students from five campuses – Abington, Berks, Brandywine, Great Valley and University Park – participated in four service experiences, which conclude with the Global Sustainable Action Conference on Nov. 16-17.
Current charging stations for electric vehicles, or EVs, can be expensive to install, and limited in the number of parking spaces they reach. Penn State engineering student Jonathan Smith and his team have spent the last three years creating a possible solution: smaller, mounted charging stations, which can move to cover as many as five parking spaces. As CEO of Streamline Charging, he’s used his Penn State education and customized coursework to get the team’s ideas to market.
Seven Penn State campuses have created the Commonwealth Arboreta Network, a network that will inventory trees and plant life while sharing research and teaching resources, with the eventual goal of creating an arboretum at each of the University's 24 campuses.
Some of the projects that culminated at the end of the semester included holding a sustainable self-care fair on campus, a film screening of “The Story of Plastic,” the creation of a campus garden, and students presenting their engagement in environmental outreach projects — all to help educate the campus community on the importance of developing environmentally-friendly practices.
Mike Fidanza, professor of plant and soil sciences at Penn State Berks and former editor-in-chief of the International Turfgrass Society Research Journal, served as the editor of “Achieving Sustainable Turfgrass Management” — a new textbook centered on implementing eco-friendly initiatives in maintaining turfgrass.
The Environmental Awareness and Community Action Project has been a major component of the course, which has been taught by Mahsa Kazempour, associate professor of science education, since 2011. At Penn State Berks, students research environmental issues on the local, national, or global level and engage in community-based projects to address sustainability issues in the Berks County area.
