{"id":11005,"date":"2018-06-13T08:31:17","date_gmt":"2018-06-13T12:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/?p=11005"},"modified":"2024-09-17T15:09:23","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T19:09:23","slug":"environmental-education-grant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/environmental-education-grant\/","title":{"rendered":"Environmental Education Seeded with Grant Support"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Environmental education and sustainability have deep roots at Kalamazoo College. Now, they\u2019re set for an era of new growth.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/envirostewardship.kzoo.edu\/\">Center for Environmental Stewardship<\/a>, which got its start during the 2010-2015 Campaign for Kalamazoo College, will take a giant leap forward with a newly announced $250,000 grant from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.avdf.org\/\">Arthur Vining Davis Foundations<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_11008\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11008\" style=\"width: 584px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-11008\" src=\"\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2-600x400.jpg\" alt=\"Environmental education student examining plants\" width=\"584\" height=\"389\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2.jpg 1260w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-11008\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Examining a patch of Oriental bittersweet, an invasive plant, Mathew Holmes-Hackerd \u201920 makes use of Kalamazoo College\u2019s Lillian Anderson Arboretum as part of a research project. A $250,000 grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations will help the College spread environmental education and sustainability throughout its curriculum and make wider use of the Arboretum via the Center for Environmental Stewardship.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The center\u2019s goals are to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Increase sustainability and environmental stewardship across the curriculum.<\/li>\n<li>Enable more students to incorporate sustainability and environmental education into their work.<\/li>\n<li>Build on existing assets to expand the College\u2019s capacity for responsible resource management and sustainable development.<\/li>\n<li>Increase the effectiveness of College\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/map.concept3d.com\/?id=198#!m\/183224\">Lillian Anderson Arboretum<\/a> as a learning lab for the campus and community.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations are a major supporter of private colleges and universities like K, based on their conviction that \u201can educated society strengthens democracy through principled, thoughtful and compassionate leadership.\u201d The Center for Environmental Stewardship is consistent with Kalamazoo College\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/strategic-plan\/\">strategic vision<\/a> of integrating academic rigor with life-changing experiential education in a values-driven community.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/programs\/biology\/\">Biology<\/a> Department Chair Binney Girdler says the grant will allow the hiring of a dedicated director for the Center for Environmental Stewardship, a key element of launching a program with the breadth and depth envisioned.<\/p>\n<p>Girdler, whose duties include serving as faculty director of the arboretum, says <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/programs\/environmental-studies\/\">environmental studies<\/a> are nothing new at K \u2014 the subject has been an interdisciplinary minor for about 30 years, and both biology and <a href=\"https:\/\/reason.kzoo.edu\/chem\/\">chemistry<\/a> classes make heavy use of the arboretum for those and other courses. She also says the College has a record of sustainability initiatives dating back at least to the launching of a recycling effort in the 1990s.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, the College is a signatory to the <a href=\"http:\/\/secondnature.org\/climate-guidance\/the-commitments\/\">American College &amp; University Presidents&#8217; Climate Commitment<\/a>. And in 2016, thanks to a grant from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.isgilmore.org\/\">Irving S. Gilmore Foundation<\/a>, it opened the solar-powered <a href=\"https:\/\/map.concept3d.com\/?id=198#!m\/183225\">Dr. H. Lewis Batts Jr. and Jean M. Batts Pavilion<\/a> to help host programming at the arboretum.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo we\u2019ve had these bubbles of passion around the campus, but no one person to get their arms around the whole thing and to really center it, and enrich it, and expand it,\u201d Girdler says.<\/p>\n<p>The director, whose position will be half-time, \u201cwill be able to really do some connecting the dots and cultivating collaborations among\u201d faculty in their classes, the College\u2019s facilities staff, student organizations, the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership and the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement, she says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt will be more than the sum of the parts,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n<p>Working with the director, she says, will be a student Environmental Leadership Corps, with paid positions dedicated to sustainability initiatives both on campus and involving the wider Kalamazoo community. She says those students will engage Kalamazoo-area residents \u201cfrom pre-K to gray\u201d through activities such as leading interpretive hikes at the arboretum, a 140-acre expanse of woods, meadows and marshes six miles from the College in Oshtemo Township.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll be cultivating a corps of students who themselves have gained from their connections with the natural world and their understanding of sustainability, and having them lead others to the understanding that we\u2019re all in this together,\u201d Girdler says.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately she expects efforts to acquaint students with environmental education and sustainability issues, and the related use of the arboretum, to spread far beyond science courses like the ones she teaches. She cites a music class that held a session at the arboretum, where it coaxed sound and rhythms from sticks, stones and other natural materials, and a philosophy class that used the forest to explore environmental themes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur poets should go out, our musicians should go out, to experience the complexity of nature,\u201d she says. \u201cYou have to see all those interactions, you have to feel it, you have to smell it. There\u2019s no substitute for being outdoors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Grants will be available to faculty members across the College to help them design instructional modules that make use of the arboretum.<\/p>\n<p>Mathew Holmes-Hackerd \u201920, a biology major, shares Girdler\u2019s enthusiasm for the arboretum\u2019s possibilities. He will be conducting a survey there this fall of the invasive species colonizing the former farmland, a 1982 gift to the College by the late Lillian Anderson \u201926.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re really fortunate to have this,\u201d he says as he searches along the Arboretum\u2019s Meadow Run Trail for patches of Oriental bittersweet, an invasive vine that can overwhelm and damage native trees. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be really amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Environmental education and sustainability have deep roots at Kalamazoo College. Now, they\u2019re set for an era of new growth. The Center for Environmental Stewardship, which got its start during the 2010-2015 Campaign for Kalamazoo College, will take a giant leap forward with a newly announced $250,000 grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations. The center\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":156,"featured_media":11008,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[233,235],"tags":[52,50,117,6,20,103,113],"post_formats":[],"class_list":["post-11005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty-staff","category-institutional-announcements","tag-biology","tag-chemistry","tag-civic-engagement","tag-grants","tag-social-justice","tag-student-organizations","tag-sustainability"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>Environmental Education Seeded with Grant Support - News and Events<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Environmental education is set for an era of growth at Kalamazoo College thanks to a grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/environmental-education-grant\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Environmental Education Seeded with Grant Support - News and Events\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Environmental education is set for an era of growth at Kalamazoo College thanks to a grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/environmental-education-grant\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News and Events\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KalamazooCollege\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-06-13T12:31:17+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-09-17T19:09:23+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1260\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"840\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@kcollege\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@kcollege\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/environmental-education-grant\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/environmental-education-grant\/\",\"name\":\"Environmental Education Seeded with Grant Support - News and Events\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/environmental-education-grant\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/environmental-education-grant\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-06-13T12:31:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-09-17T19:09:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"description\":\"Environmental education is set for an era of growth at Kalamazoo College thanks to a grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/environmental-education-grant\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/environmental-education-grant\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/environmental-education-grant\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2.jpg\",\"width\":1260,\"height\":840,\"caption\":\"Examining a patch of Oriental bittersweet, an invasive plant, Mathew Holmes-Hackerd \u201920 makes use of Kalamazoo College\u2019s Lillian Anderson Arboretum as part of a research project. 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A $250,000 grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations will help the College spread environmental education and sustainability throughout its curriculum and make wider use of the Arboretum via the Center for Environmental Stewardship."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/environmental-education-grant\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Environmental Education Seeded with Grant Support"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/","name":"News and Events","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":""}]}},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"","author_link":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/author\/"},"guten_post_layout_featured_media_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2.jpg",1260,840,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2-150x100.jpg",150,100,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2.jpg",1260,840,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2-600x400.jpg",600,400,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2.jpg",1260,840,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2.jpg",1260,840,false],"ab-block-post-grid-landscape":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2.jpg",600,400,false],"ab-block-post-grid-square":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2.jpg",600,400,false],"pl-blogpost-landscape":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2.jpg",600,400,false],"pl-blogpost-square":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2.jpg",600,400,false],"guten_post_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2.jpg",1200,800,false],"guten_post_layout_portrait_large":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2.jpg",1200,800,false],"guten_post_layout_square_large":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2.jpg",1200,800,false],"guten_post_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2.jpg",600,400,false],"guten_post_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2.jpg",600,400,false],"guten_post_layout_square":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2.jpg",600,400,false],"campus-posts-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2.jpg",300,200,false],"gform-image-choice-sm":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2.jpg",300,200,false],"gform-image-choice-md":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2.jpg",400,267,false],"gform-image-choice-lg":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2.jpg",600,400,false]},"category_info":"<a aria-label=\"archive of category Faculty &amp; Staff\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/category\/faculty-staff\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Faculty &amp; Staff<\/a><a aria-label=\"archive of category Institutional Announcements\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/category\/institutional-announcements\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Institutional Announcements<\/a>","tags_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/tag\/biology\/\" rel=\"tag\">biology<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/tag\/chemistry\/\" rel=\"tag\">chemistry<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/tag\/civic-engagement\/\" rel=\"tag\">civic engagement<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/tag\/grants\/\" rel=\"tag\">grants<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/tag\/social-justice\/\" rel=\"tag\">social justice<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/tag\/student-organizations\/\" rel=\"tag\">student organizations<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/tag\/sustainability\/\" rel=\"tag\">sustainability<\/a>","social_share_info":"<a data-share=\"facebook\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/environmental-education-grant\/\" class=\"pl-facebook-share social-share-default pl-social-share\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fab fa-facebook-f\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/a><a data-share=\"twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/environmental-education-grant\/\" class=\"pl-twiiter-share social-share-default pl-social-share\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fab fa-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/a><a data-share=\"linkedin\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/shareArticle?url=https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/environmental-education-grant\/\" class=\"pl-linkedin-share social-share-default pl-social-share\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fab fa-linkedin-in\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/a>","wordExcerpt_info":"<p>Environmental education and sustainability have deep roots at Kalamazoo College. Now, they\u2019re set for an era of new growth.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/envirostewardship.kzoo.edu\/\">Center for Environmental Stewardship<\/a>, which got its start during the 2010-2015 Campaign for Kalamazoo College, will take a giant leap forward with a newly announced $250,000 grant from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.avdf.org\/\">Arthur Vining Davis Foundations<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_11008\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11008\" style=\"width: 584px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-11008\" src=\"\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/06\/cMUMMA-environmental-education-grant-2-600x400.jpg\" alt=\"Environmental education student examining plants\" width=\"584\" height=\"389\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-11008\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Examining a patch of Oriental bittersweet, an invasive plant, Mathew Holmes-Hackerd \u201920 makes use of Kalamazoo College\u2019s Lillian Anderson Arboretum as part of a research project. A $250,000 grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations will help the College spread environmental education and sustainability throughout its curriculum and make wider use of the Arboretum via the Center for Environmental Stewardship.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The center\u2019s goals are to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Increase sustainability and environmental stewardship across the curriculum.<\/li>\n<li>Enable more students to incorporate sustainability and environmental education into their work.<\/li>\n<li>Build on existing assets to expand the College\u2019s capacity for responsible resource management and sustainable development.<\/li>\n<li>Increase the effectiveness of College\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/map.concept3d.com\/?id=198#!m\/183224\">Lillian Anderson Arboretum<\/a> as a learning lab for the campus and community.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations are a major supporter of private colleges and universities like K, based on their conviction that \u201can educated society strengthens democracy through principled, thoughtful and compassionate leadership.\u201d The Center for Environmental Stewardship is consistent with Kalamazoo College\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/strategic-plan\/\">strategic vision<\/a> of integrating academic rigor with life-changing experiential education in a values-driven community.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/programs\/biology\/\">Biology<\/a> Department Chair Binney Girdler says the grant will allow the hiring of a dedicated director for the Center for Environmental Stewardship, a key element of launching a program with the breadth and depth envisioned.<\/p>\n<p>Girdler, whose duties include serving as faculty director of the arboretum, says <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/programs\/environmental-studies\/\">environmental studies<\/a> are nothing new at K \u2014 the subject has been an interdisciplinary minor for about 30 years, and both biology and <a href=\"https:\/\/reason.kzoo.edu\/chem\/\">chemistry<\/a> classes make heavy use of the arboretum for those and other courses. She also says the College has a record of sustainability initiatives dating back at least to the launching of a recycling effort in the 1990s.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, the College is a signatory to the <a href=\"http:\/\/secondnature.org\/climate-guidance\/the-commitments\/\">American College &amp; University Presidents&#8217; Climate Commitment<\/a>. And in 2016, thanks to a grant from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.isgilmore.org\/\">Irving S. Gilmore Foundation<\/a>, it opened the solar-powered <a href=\"https:\/\/map.concept3d.com\/?id=198#!m\/183225\">Dr. H. Lewis Batts Jr. and Jean M. Batts Pavilion<\/a> to help host programming at the arboretum.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo we\u2019ve had these bubbles of passion around the campus, but no one person to get their arms around the whole thing and to really center it, and enrich it, and expand it,\u201d Girdler says.<\/p>\n<p>The director, whose position will be half-time, \u201cwill be able to really do some connecting the dots and cultivating collaborations among\u201d faculty in their classes, the College\u2019s facilities staff, student organizations, the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership and the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement, she says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt will be more than the sum of the parts,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n<p>Working with the director, she says, will be a student Environmental Leadership Corps, with paid positions dedicated to sustainability initiatives both on campus and involving the wider Kalamazoo community. She says those students will engage Kalamazoo-area residents \u201cfrom pre-K to gray\u201d through activities such as leading interpretive hikes at the arboretum, a 140-acre expanse of woods, meadows and marshes six miles from the College in Oshtemo Township.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll be cultivating a corps of students who themselves have gained from their connections with the natural world and their understanding of sustainability, and having them lead others to the understanding that we\u2019re all in this together,\u201d Girdler says.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately she expects efforts to acquaint students with environmental education and sustainability issues, and the related use of the arboretum, to spread far beyond science courses like the ones she teaches. She cites a music class that held a session at the arboretum, where it coaxed sound and rhythms from sticks, stones and other natural materials, and a philosophy class that used the forest to explore environmental themes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur poets should go out, our musicians should go out, to experience the complexity of nature,\u201d she says. \u201cYou have to see all those interactions, you have to feel it, you have to smell it. There\u2019s no substitute for being outdoors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Grants will be available to faculty members across the College to help them design instructional modules that make use of the arboretum.<\/p>\n<p>Mathew Holmes-Hackerd \u201920, a biology major, shares Girdler\u2019s enthusiasm for the arboretum\u2019s possibilities. He will be conducting a survey there this fall of the invasive species colonizing the former farmland, a 1982 gift to the College by the late Lillian Anderson \u201926.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re really fortunate to have this,\u201d he says as he searches along the Arboretum\u2019s Meadow Run Trail for patches of Oriental bittersweet, an invasive vine that can overwhelm and damage native trees. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be really amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n","comment_info":"No Comments","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/156"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11005"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11005\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23105,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11005\/revisions\/23105"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11005"},{"taxonomy":"post_format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_formats?post=11005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}