Join us on April 19th and 20th for the 2023 Sustainability SIP Symposium! This event is sponsored by the Larry J. Bell ’80 Center for Environmental Stewardship and Environmental Studies Concentration.

The keynote speaker will be Kirsten Clemente, Farm Director at the Kalamazoo Nature Center. Her work centers around regenerative farming, and she will address the challenge of how to create a system of agriculture that supports our human population and is also ecologically sustainable. The address will be on Wednesday, April 19th, at 7pm in Dewing 103.

On Thursday, April 20th, join us in celebrating Kalamazoo College seniors presenting their Senior Integrated Projects (SIPs) related to the environment or sustainability. The SIPs come from various academic departments: Environmental Studies, Critical Ethnic Studies, Biology and beyond. The presentations will take place in the Hicks Banquet Room.

Learn more about the events here!

On April 20th and 21st, 2022, Kalamazoo College hosted the 2022 Sustainability SIP Symposium on Zoom. The event was sponsored by the Center for Environmental Stewardship, Environmental Studies and the Experiential Pathways Program.

Keynote speaker Dr. David Michener, curator at University of Michigan’s Matthaei Botanical Gardens & Nichols Arboretum, shared what he had learned from over two decades of working to decolonize the University’s approach to land stewardship and to develop sustained relationships with Indigenous partners that support their work in reclaiming land, seed and food sovereignty.

The following night, Kalamazoo College seniors presented their Senior Integrated Projects (SIPs) related to the environment or sustainability. The SIPs came from various academic departments: Environmental Studies, Critical Ethnic Studies, Biology and Physics.

Check out the SIP posters on GatherTown here, and learn about these talented and driven students below.

• Kayla Carlson (Economics Major, Anthropology/Sociology Minor Environmental Studies Concentration): Local Limits in A Sustainable Future: A Case Study on the City of Kalamazoo, Western Michigan University, and Kalamazoo College Climate Action Plans

• Megan VanDyke (Environmental Studies Major): Reorienting our Pedagogical Compass: Visioning a Decolonial Outdoor Education

• Anna Fetter (Biology Major): Trail based vegetation surveys of invasive plant species on Riparian Wetland adjacent to the Paw Paw River, Southwest Michigan

• Ella Knight (Biology & History Major, Classical Civilization Minor): The English West Indies: Environmental Transformation and Insect Ecology in the Early Modern Caribbean

• Samuel Meyer (Physics Major, Math Minor): Sustainable Irrigation in the Developing World

• Ruby Seiwerath (Critical Ethnic Studies Major): Work as Celebration: A Seating Area for Gathering in the Grove

• Rina Talaba (Anthropology/Sociology & Biology Major, Environmental Studies Concentration): The spatial variation of leaf traits in Ipomopsis aggregata

On April 21st and 22nd, 2021, Kalamazoo College hosted the 2021 Sustainability SIP Symposium on Zoom. This event was sponsored by the Center for Environmental Stewardship, Environmental Studies and the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership.

Keynote speaker Jonathan C. Hall, Assistant Professor of Geography at West Virginia University, shared his experience researching a deeper understanding of the relationships between human communities and non-human wildlife species with the ultimate goal of contributing a diversity of solutions to problems of the Anthropocene that are grounded in a praxis of coexistence and codependence with non-human relatives. Listen to his address here.

The next night, Kalamazoo College seniors presented their Senior Integrated Projects (SIPs) related to the environment or sustainability. The SIPs came from various academic departments: Psychology, Biology, Critical Ethnic Studies, English, Political Science, Chemistry and Computer Science.

Check out the SIP presentations and posters on GatherTown here, and learn about these talented and driven students below.

• Alejandro Aguirre (Biology Major & History Minor): Tree Survey of Former Coal-Ash Dump Site along the Kalamazoo River and Identification of Potential Bioindicator Species

• Nicki Bailey (Biology Major & Environmental Studies Concentration): Variation in Bumble Bee Foraging Preferences by Flower Characteristics in Southwest Michigan

• Owen Bersot (Biology Major with Anthropology & Sociology Minor): Implementation of Psycholytic Therapy (Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy) for Treatment of Climate Activist Burnout

• Alexa Duma (Biology Major & Environmental Studies Concentration): An analysis of bee diversity and sampling techniques in southwestern Michigan

• Riley Gabriel (English Major & History Minor): My Composting Body (poetry compilation)

• Sophia Goebel (Critical Ethnic Studies & Political Science Major): On the Importance of Indigenous Language Revitalization in Sustaining Sacred Relationship with Nature in Oaxaca, Mexico

• Kelly Nickleson (Biology Major with Concentrations in ENVS & CGHL): Susceptibility of Highbush Blueberry Cultivars to Infestation by Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura, 1931) (Diptera: Drosophilidae)

• Niko Nickson (Biology Major with Concentrations in ENVS & CGHL): The efficacy of the Southwest Michigan Bee Watch citizen science program and the assessment of landscape in determining bumble bee diversity

• Ian Nostrant (Computer Science Major): Applications of Internet of Things Devices in Greenhouse Management and Agriculture: Increasing Productivity and Control in Enclosed Growing Environments

• Kelson Perez (Biology Major): Vegetation Survey of a Brownfield Site Inhabited by Unhoused People in East Kalamazoo

• Hannah Pittman (Political Science Major & Environmental Studies Concentration): The Crude Truth: How U.S. fossil fuel corporations rewrote the narrative on Climate Change

• Hannah Shiner (Biology Major, ANSO Minor, with Concentrations in ENVS & CGHL): Kalamazoo College Proposed Tree Enhancement Project

• Kali Stanger (Chemistry Major & Environmental Studies Concentration): Propagation of native freshwater mussels for the continuation of provided ecosystem services

• Cassandra Vogel (Biology Major): An Identification Booklet and Plant Survey of Species around Batts Pond of Lillian Anderson Arboretum

In the early months of 2020, several changes to the infrastructure of Kalamazoo College made major headway in helping with resource conservation and reducing our carbon footprint.

Replacement of chiller plants in the Dow Science Center helps with climate control, as well as minimizing electrical consumption.

The team at Facilities Management continues to make headway with sustainable infrastructure, helping to pave the way for a greener future at K College.

Learn more about these updates from K College news.

On Friday, April 1st, students from the Just Food Collective and the Food and Farming Justice Pathway gave an impassioned community reflection on the importance of green spaces at K – in particular, the Hoop House garden on the east end of campus.

The students (from upper left: Isabella Kirchgessner, Sierra Hieshetter, Lucas Priemer, Tali Deaner, Eleanor Carr, Ava Loncharte, and Jess Vrieland) spoke on a variety of impactful experiences they’ve had at the Hoop House, from exploring agricultural research, to finding welcoming communities during their first days on campus, to the resilience of those communities during the pandemic and beyond.

Every speaker advocated for the protection and continued care for the Hoop House space, as well as for the faculty/staff who so diligently cultivate it, as the college’s new Master and Strategic plans begin to be implemented.

Watch a replay of the reflection to the left, or click here.

The Kalamazoo College Center for Environmental Stewardship has received a generous donation from alumnus Larry Bell ’80 (pictured, center). The gift goes towards endowed funds which will establish and support critical environmental programming for the Kalamazoo Community. Learn more here.

“His gift to endow and name the Larry J. Bell ’80 Center for Environmental Stewardship, for example, will help us enhance the curriculum, integrate these curricular initiatives with student organizations and provide new ways for students to engage in environmental leadership efforts on our campus and throughout the greater Kalamazoo community.”

President Jorgé Gonzalez (pictured, right)

The Kalamazoo College Natatorium has been nationally recognized for its’ sustainable design from the United States Green Building Council. The building has achieved LEED status, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. A LEED certification is recognized worldwide as a hallmark of commitment to environmental and sustainable excellence.

Susan Lindemann, Associate Vice President of Facilities Management and Chief Sustainability Officer for the college, is especially excited about the recognition. For one, it adds to another award the natatorium has won: first place in the Project Innovation Award for 2022 from the USGCB West Michigan Chapter.  USGBC is the national organization that administers LEED. Tower Pinkster asked Susan to accept the award on behalf of the design team, and it was great opportunity to display that a small institution can show leadership in environmental sustainability.

She also notes:

“The award of LEED certification punctuates the roll-out of the College’s updated Climate Action Plan, which leans heavily on energy reduction to meet its greenhouse-gas emission goals, as well as creating a healthier campus. This is a significant achievement toward that plan.”

Susan Lindemann

We encourage all K students to check out the natatorium, and to enjoy its exceptionally sustainable design, during their open swim hours.