LVAIC Campus Sustainability Conference 2016

The Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges (LVAIC) is holding a Campus Sustainability Conference 2016 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20 in the STEPS building at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa. Lafayette students, faculty and community members are invited to attend. 

Registration for the conference is free and open to the public, including a continental breakfast and lunch: https://www.lvaic.org/default.aspx?pageid=738 (Registration is recommended; walk-ins welcome if space is available.)

A bus will depart from the Williams Center for the Arts, High & Hamilton Streets, at 8 a.m. and pick up conference attendees at 4:15 p.m. to return to Lafayette. 

The conference will explore sustainability projects, cultivate dialogue and encourage 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, will deliver the keynote address at 9:15 a.m. Weber is an educator, ecological researcher, and administrator who provides leadership to bridge physical operations and academic endeavors in higher education.

The conference will include 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 students and faculty will give four 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, Professors Kira T. Lawrence and Benjamin Cohen

Poster sessions by Lafayette students will include:

• 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

Please note: Snow date is Saturday, Feb. 27.