LVAIC Campus Sustainability Conference 2016
The Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges (LVAIC) held a Campus Sustainability Conference on Saturday, Feb. 20 in the STEPS building at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa.
The conference explored sustainability projects, cultivated dialogue and encouraged shared learning and concrete action that promotes responsible environmental stewardship, community building, and principles of equity on area college campuses and in the Lehigh Valley community.
Dr. Shana Weber, director of Princeton University’s Office of Sustainability, delivered the keynote address at the conference. Weber is an educator, ecological researcher, and administrator who provides leadership to bridge physical operations and academic endeavors in higher education.
The conference also included poster sessions, an exhibitor forum, and presentations and interactive workshops with students and faculty from Alvernia, Cedar Crest, Lafayette, Lehigh, Moravian, Muhlenberg and Northampton Community College.
Lafayette had a strong presence at the conference. Lafayette students and faculty gave the following presentations:
- Enhancing Community Connections Through the Bushkill Creek Story of Place Project, Professors Dave Brandes and Andy Smith
- A Student Assessment of Sustainability Based on the STARS Rating System, Chris Nelsen ’16
- Building School-to-Farm Traffic, Joe Ingrao ’16
- Row by Row: Building a Strong, Sustainable and Successful College Farm, LaFarm manager Sarah Edmonds and LaFFCo students (Lafayette Food and Farm Cooperative)
- “Greening Lafayette” – A Campus-Wide Initiative for Sustainability Through a Connected Communities Model, Alexa Gatti ’16, Miranda Wilcha ’16, Professors Kira T. Lawrence and Benjamin Cohen
Poster sessions by Lafayette students included:
- Vegetables in the Community: Building Community Connections through Produce Distribution in the West Ward, Alexa Gatti ’16 and Rachel Young ’18
- Fountains and Fluorescents: Investigating real challenges to sustainability with the broader Lafayette College community with Virginia Hoyt ’16, Prisca Ratsimbazafy ’17, Alicia Halpin-Ortiz ’16, Caroline McCauley ’17 and Prof. Nancy McCreary Waters
- An Assessment of the Pesticide Usage at Lafayette College: Human Health Effects and a Search for Alternatives, Chris Nelsen ’16