Bucknell University
EN-3: Student Life

The Bucknell Environmental Club is a student organization that works to educate the university and local community on environmental issues. The club works as a team to create positive and sustainable changes in community culture. Engineers for Sustainable Development: student run group that promotes sustainable development and practice both throughout campus and on a global scale. Bucknell Green Builders- foster scientific study and research in the field of environmentally sustainable building, investigate ways to improve current methods and designs through case studies, and preparing for the LEED Green Associate Exam. Net Impact- networking opportunity for Bucknell students who are seeking internships and jobs in sustainability, as well as experience in local community development through small businesses and charitable organizations

At the Bucknell University Environmental Center there is an organic garden consisting of 15 raised beds which contain seasonal vegetables, strawberries, herbs. The garden also has an apple orchard and established grape vines. The garden is used as a laboratory for the course "Food and the Environment" and also serves as a communal garden for Bucknell staff who wish to grow their own food. The University is partnered with the Borough of Lewisburg in the continuation of the Lewisburg Community Garden, which has volunteer hours for students. The garden works to grow organic produce for local food acess programs, and to provide educational oppotunities to the surrounding community about home gardening benefits and techniques. The Univeristy is in the process of constructing a farm on campus, which will be a public space for students, where they can learn about the most sustianable and effectivef farming techniques. Food from the farm will be used in our dining facilities on campus. Dreamcatcher Farms: a diverse 11 acre farm dedicated to deep organic and sustainable food production. In partnership with Geisinger Hospital, all of the crops are donated to a local food bank to promote community wellness programs. Wild Goose Farm: Partnership dedicated to teaching and leanding about healthful and sustainable living practices.
There also is a Lewisburg Community Garden organized through Bucknell's Office of Civic Engagement, with the goals of increasing access to fresh, healthy, low-cost, locally grown food and educating students and community members about home gardening benefits and techniques.Creating cooperative, multi-generational learning opportunities between campus and local community.

Bucknell Advancing Communities Educating and Serving (BACES): a student-led service organization that travels down to the Dominican Republic over spring break to participate in a wide variety of service projects such as medical outreaches, food drives, building homes and teaching in a local school. MGMT 101: Students create non profit companies to benefit local community or service projects. Bucknell Brigade: providing emergency relief efforts following the devastation of Hurricane Mitch, the university has been involved in a unique partnership with a resettlement community outside the capital city of Managua, Nicaragua.

The Bucknell University Green Fund provides start up money for sustainability foccused projects that are proposed and implemented by students, staff, and faculty. Through the implementation of this revolving loan, we hope to continue to encourage Bucknellians to build a sustainable community. Additionally, Bucknell has a Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF). This group manages a portion of the endowment currently valued at approximately $2M. This group has discussed divestment and has implemented ESGs.

The university hosts an annual Sustainability Symposium, which includes faculty led panels, keynote speakers, poster sessions featuring student work, creative displays, and student activities. Also annually host a Susquehanna River Symposium, which brings scientists and engineers together to dicuss and host lectures on the challanges facing our watershed. We also recently hosted a renewable energy workshop. In academic year 2017-2018, a year long series of events discussing the social, economic, and environmental impact of the growth of and subsequent collapse of coal mining in this region was presented.

The university has many creative events related to social and economic factors of sustainability. Since 2016, we have hosted the artist Fredman Barahona to give a talk and work with LGBTQ students to recreate a performance piece, Trans-Totem. We had a display by visual artist Ricardo Dominguez titled “Fearless Art in the Age of Fear: Electronic Disturbance Theater's Parrhesian Gestures”. There was a screening of African Italian doucmentary filmaker's Fred Kuwornu's film "Blaxploitalian". Film maker Nick Jones's film "Out of the Mouths of Slaves: Africanized Iberian Languages in Imperial Iberia" was screened. A concert titled "The Struggle to be Heard– Women Composers and the Symphony" was held, as well as "The Struggle to be Heard- Music of Social Justice".

Bucknell Outdoor Education and Leadership provides a wide variety of opportunities for students to engage in outdoor activities including a ropes course, an outdoor club, international expeditions, and an outdoor pre-orientation program known as BuckWILD. The university also maintains a boat landing on campus for river-based excursions, and a campus-wide bike sharing program.

The first year common reading book always revolves around sustainability related themes. Examples of books read by the previous 4 classes are: The Good Food Revolution, Loving Day, Just Mercy, and Antigonick. All revolve around ideas of inequality, while some include environmental issues and injustices. Upon arrival at campus, students discuss these books with their peers and faculty members.

Bucknell offers first years the option to join residential colleges, where students choose a themed course that interests them, and live and learn with students who share this interest. Some of the resedential colleges incorporate sustainability themes, such as the Environmental College, which works to encourage students to consider the scientific, cultural, political, and ethical dimensions of environmental issues. The Food College partners students with local organic farms to engage them in these practices. The Global College examines human rights, sustainability, migration, and identity. The Social Justice college looks at marginalizzed groups and their challenges. The Languages and Culture College

Students can be hired as interns at the Office of Campus Sustainability, in Facilities (energy management), in the Office of Civic Engagement or Dining Services (sustainable food production), or by one of many offices promoting social sustainability/diversity. Students can also participate in paid research through the Bucknell Center for Sustainability and the Environment

The Sustainable Design Program works to integrate sustainability throughout the school's cirriculum, and provide learning opportunities which are focused on human connection to the natural world. The program also supports student research and analysis that contributes to increasing ecological, economic, and social sustainability practiced by the University. Additionally, the program provides direction and leadership to collaborative campus sustainability projects by creating linkages between curricular, administrative, and operational units across campus. The University has integrated research, teaching, and outreach focused on the Susquehanna River. The Place Studies Program provides opportunities to understand, represent, and engage natural and human communities by advancing understandings and applications of sustainability for rural communities, as well as exploring how to characterize and represent places in the digital age, and encouraging creative expressions and articulations of human-nature relationships.