West Chester University is offering four free campus sustainability tours beginning in late September, starting with a look at the green roof at the Sciences and Engineering Center on Tuesday, Sept. 22.
The university's Office of Sustainability announced the lineup of tours, seminars and community events, as reported by MyChesCo. The programs focus on waste reduction, energy use, environmental health and sustainable practices.
The Sept. 22 tour begins at noon at The Commons dining hall and runs until 1 p.m. It covers the green roof system at the Sciences and Engineering Center and The Commons.
Three more tours follow: a North Campus walk on Thursday, Oct. 15; a Gordon Natural Area tour on South Campus on Monday, Oct. 26; and a look inside the university's geothermal pumphouse on Friday, Nov. 13. All run noon to 1 p.m. All are free.
The lineup also includes a community panel on plastics and human health on Thursday, Oct. 22, at the Business and Public Management Center, 50 Sharpless St. A reception starts at 6 p.m. in Room 102, with the panel beginning at 6:30 p.m. in Room 116.
Panelists include Elliott Arnold, a faculty member in WCU's Department of Earth and Space Sciences, and Megan Fork of the Biology Department. Acupuncture and Chinese medicine practitioner Erika Prinz Ben-Zur rounds out the panel. Elizabeth Gombosi of the West Chester Green Team will moderate.
At the same event, the Green Team will present its Environmental Leadership Award to Rachael Griffith, sustainability director for the Chester County Planning Commission. Griffith, a registered landscape architect and certified planner, has served on the commission since December 2016, according to Chester County government records.
Beyond the tours and panel, the Office of Sustainability runs weekly Sustainability Research and Practice Seminars at noon on Wednesdays in Sykes 255 A/B and on Zoom. The 50-minute sessions begin Wednesday, Sept. 23, with a program on the environmental and economic dimensions of banana cultivation. Future topics include bird-building collisions, ecotourism, textile production and food insecurity.
All programs are free and open to the public. Dr. Bradley Flamm directs the Office of Sustainability at 114 W. Rosedale Ave. Details are available at wcupa.edu/sustainability or by emailing [email protected].
Upcoming WCU sustainability events:
- Tuesday, Sept. 22 — Green roof tour, noon, The Commons dining hall
- Wednesday, Sept. 23 — Sustainability seminar: banana cultivation, noon, Sykes 255 A/B and Zoom
- Thursday, Oct. 15 — North Campus tour, noon
- Thursday, Oct. 22 — Plastics and health panel, 6 p.m. reception / 6:30 p.m. panel, 50 Sharpless St.
- Monday, Oct. 26 — Gordon Natural Area tour, noon
- Friday, Nov. 13 — Geothermal pumphouse tour, noon
