Keene State College’s campus came together on Friday, April 19 for an early Earth Day celebration held by the Eco-Reps.
The event was held on Oya Hill as a way to promote sustainability and green initiatives on campus.
The Eco-Reps, as well as many community environmental organizations, had tables with sustainability-themed crafts and information to draw in students. The Harris Center for Conservation Education was one of these tables.
Science director for the Center, Amy Thelen, said, “We do a lot of work with Keene State in a lot of different ways. We offer internships, we work with students on capstone research, we have a lot of student volunteers with our Salamander Crossing event; So we’re here because we have that really long connection with the college and we want to celebrate that and celebrate Earth Day.”
Thelen discussed how important sustainability and being a part of the Harris Center was to her.
“If I wasn’t doing this for work, I’d be doing it in my free time anyway because wildlife and the natural world is such a huge part of who I am and what I care about.” she said.
A member of the Eco-Reps, senior Brooke Morman stated, “[Eco-Reps] is a sustainable organization on campus. We do educational outreach to educate people on the green initiates we have like composting, recycling, and things like trash clean ups and the salamander crossings … We really just want students to have fun while taking care of the Earth.”
Junior Dante Shelden ran the table for the Sustainability Office as a way at to spread awareness for the Green Bikes on campus. “Earth Day is typically a big day for the Eco-Reps as well as the Sustainability Office. It’s to promote sustainable living as well as practices to mitigate waste so it’s a very important day.”
Selden said he originally joined the Sustainability Office during his first year at KSC because of his interest in gardening.
He explained, “It was about wanting to make campus better and talk to others and have them make the same impact that I’m trying to make.”
The Equinox tabled at the event.
McKenzie French can be contacted at
