State University of New York at New Paltz
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

Virtual Climate Action Simulation Workshop using the En-ROADS modeling tool: En-ROADS is a free, online dynamic modeling tool used by the United Nations, US Congress, and many other groups across the world to conceptualize the scope of the climate crisis and the urgency and diversity of solutions required. During the workshop, participants propose climate solutions they would like to see implemented (both on a campus-wide and global scale) such as energy efficiency, carbon pricing, fossil fuel taxes, reducing deforestation, or carbon dioxide removal.

The facilitator then tests these approaches in the cutting-edge and science-based En-ROADS Climate Solutions Simulator, so participants can see the impact on global temperature, sea-level rise, and other factors. The resulting experience is hopeful, scientifically-grounded, action-oriented, and eye-opening. This allows participants to see how actions taken at SUNY New Paltz could have significant impacts if implemented on a global scale.

This workshop was led by Andrea Frank, Associate Professor at SUNY New Paltz and Climate Interactive Ambassador in a classroom context in INT141 Sustainability Living Learning Community in fall 2022. The workshop clarified and boosted the students’ commitment to working on transportation energy efficiency by promoting biking in the community, which they are doing in a project-oriented format during the spring semester.

The SUNY Board of Trustees voted unanimously in favor of a resolution to remove and replace the names of six SUNY New Paltz buildings named for original Huguenot patentees of the Village of New Paltz, who were slave-owners. “Student government, faculty governance, administrators, the Diversity & Inclusion Council, College Council members and Huguenot descendants engaged each other in one of the most rewarding examples of shared governance I’ve seen,” said President Christian. “Our students were inspired to be part of this process, proud to be part of a campus that was willing to take on such a thorny issue, and learned much about how change can happen.” The new building names pay homage to local geographic features. They will be assigned to the campus buildings to mirror their actual locations – for instance, Lefevre Hall, the eastern-most of the buildings, will become Shawangunk Hall, because the Shawangunk Ridge is the eastern-most of these features.

The College is also moving ahead with other recommendations of the Diversity and Inclusion Council. A working group of students, faculty and staff is developing concepts for a contemplative space and other ways to present a more complete and honest history of the campus and surrounding community for future students and visitors.

https://www.newpaltz.edu/hasbrouck-renaming/

In the fall of 2020, the Carbon Neutrality Team of student Sustainability Ambassadors developed a proposal for the campus to be Carbon Neutral by 2030. The students presented this proposal to the AVP of Facilities Management, the VP for Finance and Administration, and ultimately the President and Cabinet (of Vice Presidents) in December of 2020. This effort led to an Earth Day 2021 announcement to engage in a 2-year study to evaluate pathways, strategies, costs, and goals. Also, the Carbon Neutrality Team also updated our campus GHG emissions reports for 2021, 2020, and 2019.

https://sites.newpaltz.edu/news/2021/04/carbon-neutrality-task-force-2021/

The Campus Greenhouse on campus, which is attached to Coykendall Science Building, is used in several ways to advance student learning and sustainability.
One notable project was a project involving students from the engineering department, in which a combination of electrical, computer, and mechanical engineering students worked on creating a temperature-controlled automatic ventilation system for the greenhouse. The greenhouse was in need of automatic vents, because the manual ones had required someone to climb to the roof and open and close them, resulting in them being opened once in the spring and closed once in the fall. Because there is significant temperature fluctuation in spring and fall, this was becoming an issue due to its impact on the plants. Five engineering students worked together for their senior project to create and implement a new automatic, temperature-controlled ventilation system. They also left opportunities for future students to expand on their project by setting up a system that allows the vents to be controlled by a remote, computer system. They developed the early stages of this part of the project, leaving the set-up to future students.

The Greenhouse is used in conjunction with classes, including the Horticultual Botany course offered in Spring of 2020. The Greenhouse was used every week in lab to teach basic horticultural skills from a botany framework. Another course, developmental plant anatomy, also utilizes the greenhouse weekly.
Within the greenhouse, all plants are labeled with identification and information about where the species is found in the world. They are grouped together by habitat to educate the campus community about the plants, their habitats, and sustainability issues such as habitat loss and climate change. Laura Wyeth, who runs the greenhouse, strives to educate students, faculty, and staff about where common houseplants come from and how they connect to sustainability and global issues.

A geography student recently completed a project in which he created a map of the species in the greenhouse and where their natural habitats are located around the world. The map is now utilized by Laura Wyeth to track the species she has and as a reference for visitors.

The Greenhouse is open weekly for visits, and Laura often connects with other departments for collaboration and interdisciplinary projects. For example, a professor from the art department, teaching a course on jewelry, had students visit the greenhouse to sketch plants and get inspiration for metalwork.
A digital media student is also working with the greenhouse to promote it on social media as their internship.

Every year, a student is selected to work as the greenhouse assistant and they learn propagation, repotting, cutting, and other basic horticultural techniques. This student also hosts the open greenhouse hours and welcomes and educates visitors.

A student team from the Introduction to Managing Sustainability Course of the School of Business developed a proposal to introduce reusable servingware at Element 93 in Wooster Hall, which currently uses single-use servingware. Ultimately, Campus Auxiliary Services and Sodexo closed this facility during COVID-19 but chose to adopt 100% reusable servingware (including utensils, to-go containers, soup/salad containers, and drink cups) at Peregrine Dining Hall, the main residential dining facility during COVID. In the fall of 2021, the reusable container program was indeed implemented at Element 93 as originally recommended.

The Biology Department actively uses the campus grounds as a living laboratory:

Ecology: Campus grounds are used to teach tree identification in Ecology course and the South forest (a patch of forest located on the southernmost edge of campus) is used for student research in Ecology. There are also five specific trees on campus that are used for a long-term phenology monitoring project. In Spring 2020, three students were working on this project alongside Ecology professor, Dr. Eric Keeling.

Ornithology: In the Ornithology course, the campus grounds are used for introductory field trips for learning bird identification, and many students use various areas of the campus for their independent projects. Many students observe water fowl on the Gunk (a pond on campus), and several use the bird feeders on campus for their projects.

Animal Behavior: A new lab was added to the Animal Behavior course in fall 2020 that included several on campus class projects. In one, students explored habitats in the campus forest and compared vegetation measurements with bird data from Dr. Kara Belinsky’s MAPS banding project. In another, students surveyed insect pollinator diversity at different flower types in various locations on campus where there are flower beds. Finally, students used the smaller network of bird feeders located on campus to examine competitive behaviors between birds and chipmunks at the feeders.

Biological Inquiry: This is a course for students who have passed genetics, incorporating genetics lab techniques with a class focus on field expeditions on campus. Students collect organisms and identify them in lab (morphological characteristics) then extract DNA and identify them through molecular evidence to compare the two methods. The class is broken into three units: microorganisms (bacteria from a campus pond), plants, and animals (invertebrates).

In 2021-22, the student Sustainability Ambassadors on the Beyond Plastics team worked on educating the bookstore manager about sustainable purchasing options. A new sustainable brand brought in recently is Alta Gracia, which focuses on labor rights in the supply chain. Sustainability Ambassadors sought brands that either do not use polyester/synthetic materials (that are derived from fossil fuels) and are made from organic materials or recycled materials in items purchased by the bookstore.

The final sustainability recommendations for the Bookstore are published below: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rpdp7cYsSQ9ztwXywzqYh69w6nkrxF1PgmsCICSPpd4/edit?usp=sharing

Sustainability Ambassadors of the Beyond Plastics team worked in partnership with Campus Auxiliary Services to transition the beverage/vending contract from mostly plastic bottles to mostly aluminum cans to reduce plastic waste (and recycling). This was successfully enacted in the fall of 2020.

https://newpaltz.edu/sustainability/view-programs-and-progress/beyond-plastics-initiative/case-study-from-plastic-bottles-to-aluminum-cans/

As a campus community at a public higher education institution, students, faculty and staff have joined toether to form Black Lives Matter at School because it is is our duty to engage each other across hierarchical structures, to learn, explore, and address issues of systemic racism and discrimination throughout our campus. The Black Lives Matter at School Collective (New Paltz)’s purpose is to provoke critical reflection, discussion, and action regarding issues of racism on our campus and society at large.

https://hawksites.newpaltz.edu/blmatschool/

The faculty-student-led Green Revolving Fund invests in projects that advance sustainability and reduce operating expenses, especially energy use, on the SUNY New Paltz campus to create a perpetually renewable source of capital to fund new projects, create valuable educational opportunities, and achieve long term energy efficiency. In addition, the management of the fund creates an opportunity for students, faculty, staff, and members of the community to work together to create a more sustainable, energy-efficient campus community.

STUDENTS HELPING STUDENTS - OASIS/HAVEN
At times, students in distress initially feel more comfortable talking to a trained student rather than a mental health professional. OASIS and HAVEN are the two peer support services on campus, supervised by the Psychological Counseling Center (PCC).

OASIS is a student-staffed, crisis intervention center and telephone hotline. OASIS volunteers are trained and supervised by the hotline Coordinator. Students may walk-in or call the office.

HAVEN is a student-staffed, crisis intervention center and telephone hotline. Peer volunteers are specifically trained to respond to issues around rape, sexual assault, other unwanted sexual experiences and relationship violence. HAVEN volunteers are trained and supervised by the Hotline Coordinator. Students may walk-in or call the office.

https://www.newpaltz.edu/counseling/oasishaven.html

STUDENT PSYCHOLOGICAL RESILIENCE PROJECT
To address the resulting stress, the Student Psychological Resilience Project was developed thanks to the support of SUNY New Paltz alumnus Ira Schreck '74 and Barbara Ginsberg, who have joined in partnership with SUNY New Paltz to foster student mental health, well-being, and success. This program, which is being rolled out to the campus community beginning in Fall 2020, is intended to address student stress and distress using a peer-to-peer outreach and education approach. It will be overseen by personnel from the Institute for Disaster Mental Health at SUNY New Paltz (IDMH).
https://www.newpaltz.edu/idmh/programs/student-resiliency-advocates/
https://www.instagram.com/np_resilience/