Cascadia College
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

The campus has Pollinator areas for both student and public engagement - to learn about bee pollination on campus and become involved with on campus student and volunteer research.

The Campus Cornucopia Food Forest is also a living laboratory space.
In addition to organically grown edible products, shade in hotter weather, and being ecologically beneficial, this Food Forest also is an excellent example of integrated learning for students. From subjects in environmental studies and sciences, to arts and languages, the Food Forest brings students outside the classroom to engage in the green edible space. They can find engaging topics to learn and talk about amidst or below this abundant forest—and find treats to taste or gather for recipes. Many classes have taken tours of the Cornucopia, and been able to engage in its seasonal fruit!

Our campus also boasts a 58-acre restored wetland - Environmental science classes, visiting international students, and international classes often explore and visit the wetlands. They take water samples, learn about peat and soil formation, and about the salmon passage through the campus.

In addition to hosting the annual Campus Climate Dialog 2020, students, faculty and staff are encouraged to participate in sustainability activities on campus throughout the year. This may include hosting tables or activities during our annual joint campus Earth Week celebration or forming an active student club to take on projects throughout the year.

The Sustainability student club has been active from 2018, bringing tables to educate students on the UN Sustainable Development Goals and hosting event discussions and outreach activities on sustainability.

Students are Cascadia are encouraged to participate in several sustainability research projects and initiatives on campus including: Student Led Implementations to Stormwater Management; Campus Climate Dialog 2018 and 2020; CCUWBee Research Initiative; grant funded Native Plants for Pollination and Education; Campus Farm and Food Forest; Waste Diversion Research; and the EcoChallenge. http://www.cascadia.edu/discover/about/sustainability/sustainabilityresearch.aspx

One of our buildings, CC3, is LEED Platinum Certified and provides the students with opportunities to engage in the design and operation of a high-energy and water-efficient building. Tours are given to classes requesting them on sustainability features, with facility access to energy and water-saving elements of CC3. There are signs posted around the building for students to view that explain the sustainable features of CC3.

One of our buildings, CC3, is LEED Platinum Certified and provides the students with opportunities to engage in the design and operation of a high-energy and water-efficient building. Tours are given to classes requesting them on sustainability features, with facility access to energy-saving elements of CC3, and access to all campus building energy modules.

Cascadia College is blessed to have a 58-acre restored Wetland attached to the campus that is a true functioning living laboratory that students benefit from real time data collection and evaluation.
Wetlands are a valuable and integral resource in the global landscape. Because wetland formation and ecology are vastly influenced by climate, geographical location affects the size and type of wetland found at specific global locations. As such, students will examine the unique ecology that evolves when the presence of water on terrestrial systems is pervasive enough to create changes to the soil and biotic community. Students explored the large wetland restoration project located on-campus through ‘hands-on’ field laboratories assessing soil quality.
Cascadia’s campus is bountiful with native vegetation so the students utilized the surrounding trees and plants for identification as preparation for off-site restoration field trip. Students also utilized the ground to practice various techniques associated with tree/plant identification, verification, and density. In addition, the grounds are certified Salmon Safe and pollinator plantings are found across campus which facilities our new CCUWBee Research Initiative. http://www.cascadia.edu/discover/about/sustainability/sustainablecampus.aspx
The grounds are managed pesticide free since 2006, and this allows the campus to have 5 areas on engaging students of growing food, including the Cornucopia Food Forest, Campus Farm, Herb Walk, and Orchards. Classes from various subjects (including the English as a Second Language program) tour and use the Food forest and farm for activities and classroom learning.

Students in 2017 researched a project to evaluate the transportation behaviors of students in effort to analyze the driving force of why students take single-occupant vehicles (SOV) to and from the school. This provided the students and the school administration with a baseline survey to base future decisions on parking and commuting to and from the college.
In 2019-2020 this data was used by a student project to build a bicycling engagement project having students work with commuter services, to design a campus program for bicycling ease and encouragement.

Students conducted live waste stream analysis on campus and utilized this lab to engage other student of proper disposal. One student completed an internship on campus by leading our participation in Recyclemania in 2018. This student estimated and reported our waste diversion rates daily throughout the duration of the competition. In 2019 the campus changed all waste bins to triple stations, and workshops were held for students, classes, and staff/faculty to learn the importance of waste separation. One student in 2019 led this "Waste Ambassadors" program for education on reducing waste on campus.

North Creek flows through campus. This waterway is 303d listed for fecal coliforms. Students are actively researching sources of pollution in North Creek and identifying potential solutions to those sources- having built a mycelium based berm to reduce bacteria entering the wetland in 2018. Updates and further berms are being built in 2020-2021.
Students in multiple classes visit the North Creek Wetland on campus, to learn and experience riparian and wetland areas - including engaging visiting international classes and STEM classes.
Students are also able to study and engage with a variety of low impact development features on campus including rain gardens (one student built), green roofs, bioswales and permeable pavement as well as our 58-acre restored wetland. Our LEED platinum certified CC3 building uses recycled rain water to flush toilets and students are able to tour the building and see how that system works even within locked facilities areas.

Students host an annual campus wide event in sustainability and climate change that engages students, faculty, and staff on the need to reduce carbon emissions for the college. Known as the Campus Climate Dialog, this event seeks to identify specific strategies that can be deployed on campus to reduce carbon emissions and work to focus on climate resilience for under-served communities in equitable ways. The results of the Dialog are reported to the campus community and executive team. In addition, all students, staff and faculty are invited to engage multiple college committees such as the Cascadia Sustainability Committee, Transportation Committee, and the Student Advisory Committee for Equity & Inclusion.

Cascadia student life opened Kodiak Cave in November 2018 as a food resource accessible to students of Cascadia College. The mission of this program is to end hunger on campus by providing nutritious food, education, and resources to the student body. Kodiak Cave hosts equity and engagement events on campus and has a blog with current community resources and recipes. The Health and Wellness Resource Center or HaWRC is a free and accessible resource for students of Cascadia that connecting them with campus and community resources to meet their needs. The HaWRC host events and seminars and one-on-one consulate to help students with financial coaching, understanding health insurance, health education, violence and prevention advocating.