Special Events – Page 2 – Sustainability & Environment @ OWU

Moving Sustainability Forward at OWU: Upcoming Meetings

Mark your calendars and watch for more information on two upcoming really important meetings regarding sustainability at OWU:

Thursday, February 10 at 6 pm (Beeghly Library 2nd Floor Bayley Room)
Friday, February 11 at noon (Beeghly Library 2nd Floor Bayley Room)

We are asking for volunteers to help with the first significant update to OWU’s Sustainability Plan since 2017. This is good for OWU and good for participants, who will engage in what is in essence a professional sustainability effort. This group and its efforts are not formally affiliated with or endorsed by the OWU administration but will develop a plan and set of recommendations in line with current sustainability practices, at peer institutions, organizations, and companies.

I will update this blog posting in the near future with more details.

Some background:

It’s been five years since OWU’s first Sustainability Plan – created by students – was adopted by OWU. The plan is, frankly, a bit toothless. It was vetted by students (primarily Emily Howald, ’18) and adjusted to the realities of an institution that was not yet ready to commit to more challenging sustainability goals. Keep in mind this was a time of major fundraising for the very important OWU Connection and also one of increasing enrollment challenges (felt by all colleges, as the number of college-age students declines in the US).

OWU is making progress. For example, the map below (right mouse click to see larger map) documents both existing and proposed sustainability projects on campus. These are largely grassroots projects, most involving students and the OWU Connection.

Move forward to Fall of 2021. Fred Copeman, OWU ’11, is in the graduate program for Sustainability Management at Columbia University. He takes on OWU as a case study, in a course, assessing the means by which OWU can seriously institute sustainability institution-wide.

Spring 2022: Fred will be on campus to move the effort forward on Thursday, February 10, and Friday, February 11. Meetings with students, staff, and faculty are scheduled for Thursday, February 10 at 6 pm (Beeghly Library 2nd Floor Bayley Room) and Friday, February 11 at noon (Beeghly Library 2nd Floor Bayley Room).

Updates coming soon.

2021 Olentangy Watershed Forum @ OWU @ Wed. Oct. 27

It is still possible to pre-register via Erin Gibson: see contact information above. Folks from OWU should feel free to drop in if interested.

The Forum will be held on the 3rd floor of OWU’s Merrick Hall, from 9am-4pm on Wednesday, October 27.

OWU Sustainability Task Force Meeting: Sept 27 @ Noon @ Merrick 201

Dr. Krygier in the OWU ENVS Dunk Tank at the Olentangy River Festival (Sept. 2021)

Our first STF Meeting for the Fall of 2021 is Monday, Sept. 27 @ noon in 201 Merrick Hall.

Organizer: AJ Lashaway

Dr. Krygier/AJ→ OWU Outside update (hopefully MTSO reaches out, call Audubon)(make QR code for groupme)
→ Chimney Swift tower
→ Energy Projects: big and small
→ Bioretention Cells
→ any other sustainability things going on on campus

Ed Pullen→ recycling + waste management on campus

Erin Wolfe→ sustainability in Delaware
→ watershed
→ events OWU students can attend/opportunities available to them

SK (Treehouse) → Green Week, house events outside students can attend/help with

And SO much MORE.

May Move Out ’21

After a year’s pause, due to the COVID, May Move Out is back for 2021.

May Move Out is OWU’s student-created and managed program to keep tons of usable materials out of the landfill each spring.

Volunteers contact Meg Edwards: email or sign up on this spreadsheet.

It’s simple:

Students can easily donate unneeded stuff to Goodwill as they move off-campus.

Mobile storage pods with May Move Out banners are placed around the residential side of campus for ease of donation.

Dump your stuff in the pod and get on your way. It’s that easy.

In previous years we’ve deferred up to 10 tons of reusable stuff.

More info here: http://maymoveout.owu.edu

OWU Sponsored Event: 17th Annual Virtual Olentangy Watershed Forum, Thursday, Oct. 22

17th Annual Virtual Olentangy Watershed Forum, October 22, 2020

Recording of event is here.

Please register using this Eventbrite link. To get the Zoom link, check your email (OWU students, staff and faculty) or contact Carline Cicerchi or John Krygier.

The Annual Olentangy Watershed Forum brings together a series of speakers to discuss the status of the watershed. This year features Keynote speaker Jonathan Overpeck, co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize as part of the United Nations advisory group on climate change and Dean of the School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, “American Rivers and Climate Change: a Tale of Two Hydrologic Extremes”

The forum is great for regional practitioners as well as students, who can network and make contacts for internships and projects.

8:00 – 8:10 Welcome and introductions, Sean Kay, Ohio Wesleyan University

8:10 – 8:55 Keynote speaker: Jonathan Overpeck, co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize as part of the United Nations advisory group on climate change and Dean of the School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, “American Rivers and Climate Change: a Tale of Two Hydrologic Extremes”

8:55 – 9:05: Q & A

State of the Watershed Updates

9:05 – 9:15: Update from Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed (FLOW) by Kelly Thiel. FLOW was formed as a non-profit 501(c)3 in August 1997. FLOW’s mission is to keep the Olentangy River and its tributaries clean and safe for all to enjoy, through public education, volunteer activities, and coordination with local decision-makers.

9:15 – 9:30: Update from Del-Co Water by Jeff Kauffman. Del-Co Water Company, Inc. was formed in 1969 and provides quality drinking water to seven counties (Delaware, Morrow, Marion, Knox, Franklin, Union, and Crawford) serving a population of over 140,000.

9:30 – 9:45: Update from City of Delaware and Olentangy Watershed Alliance (OWA) by Caroline Cicerchi. The City of Delaware works diligently to protect existing stormwater infrastructure as well as the Olentangy River and its tributaries through its Stormwater Management Program. OWA was formed as a non-profit in April 1999, with a mission to inspire appreciation and stewardship of the Upper Olentangy River and its watershed.

9:45 – 9:55: Update from Preservation Parks by Chris Roshon. The mission of Preservation Parks of Delaware County is to protect and conserve the natural and historic features of Delaware County and to inspire outdoor exploration and learning.

9:55 – 10:05: Q & A and Break

10:05 – 10:15: Vanessa Bishop, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

10:15 – 10:30: Erin Wolfe, Delaware Soil & Water Conservation District. “Del-Aware Water: Outreach Efforts in the Watershed”

10:30 – 10:50: Jim Palus, FLOW. “Putting FLOW’s Greenspace Implementation Plan Into Action”

10:50 – 11:20: Ed Rankin & Anthony Sasson, Midwest Biodiversity Institute, “Fish and Mussels Trends in the Central Scioto River Basin”

11:20-11:50: Jesse Womack, The Nature Conservancy. “The Nature Conservancy & the Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework”

11:50 – 12:00: Janelle Valdinger, Ohio Wesleyan University, “Connecting with Career Connection”

OWU Zoom Event: Rock and Roll Environmental Non-Profits – conversation with Lauren Sullivan of Reverb

Dr. Sean Kay is hosting a Zoom to the Classroom event this Tuesday at 12:00-1:00 PM – over the lunch hour. This is built around his Environmental Politics and Policy course, but all are very welcome to join: please email Dr. Kay for a Zoom invite.

Our guest this week is Lauren Sullivan, who with her husband Adam Gardner of the band Guster, formed Reverb – one of America’s most active non-profits working in the music industry, in particular, green rock and roll touring – they work with groups from the 1975, to Dave Mathews to Santana and many more. This will be a fun chance to take a deep dive into how environmental non-profits work and how they intersect with mass culture in the United States.

Details on what Reverb does:

We partner with Musicians, Festivals and Venues to green their concert events while engaging fans face-to-face at shows to take environmental and social action.

We create and execute comprehensive programs to reduce concert and tour footprints from eliminating single-use water bottles to coordinating local farm food to fueling sustainable biodiesel in tour buses to composting and donating food waste and much more. See Example HERE

In our fan-facing Action Villages, concertgoers connect with local and national nonprofits and campaigns, fill up at our RocknRefill free water stations, win prizes like signed guitars, and ticket upgrades for taking action, and much more.

Event: 3rd Annual Ohio Microfarm Project Symposium

NECIC invites you to the 3rd Annual Ohio Microfarm Project Symposium

October 23, 2020 @ 9am-4:15pm
October 24, 2020 @ 9am-11am

Register Here

(Registration will close on October 22nd at 12pm)

In partnership with The Ohio State University-Mansfield Campus, please join us for an updated overview of the Ohio Microfarm Project.

See the second-year results of this three-year project! The October 23rd event virtually showcases community partnerships, urban farming, resiliency of farming, and co-op development. The October 24th event is brought to you by the Richland Gro-Op and will exhibit two urban microfarm and two rural microfarm outings, all a result of the input received from last year’s symposium.

Schedule: 2020 Ohio Microfarm Project Virtual Symposium October 23, 2020

2020SymposiumSchedule

Videos: Careers in Water Management Speaker Series (October, 2020)

Careers in Water Management Speaker Series I: Video

Jeff Paetz, Phoenix Environmental (15 minutes)
Heather Sheets, Ohio Clean Marinas (15 minutes)
Caroline Cicerchi, City of Delaware (15 minutes)

Careers in Water Management Speaker Series II: Video

Sarah Orlando, Ohio Sea Grant (15 minutes)
Chad Spring, City of Delaware (15 minutes)
Erin Wolfe, Delaware SWCD (15 minutes)
Janelle Valdinger, Ohio Wesleyan University (10 minutes)

Careers in Water Management Speaker Series III: Video

Christine Szymanski, ODNR Scenic Rivers (15 minutes)
Jeff Kauffman, Del-Co Water Company (15 minutes)
Chris Roshon, Preservation Parks (15 minutes)

This Week: OWU Event: Water Management Careers – Students hear from Professionals

Ohio Wesleyan, City of Delaware, Ohio EPA Hosting Free Three-Day Speaker Series

OWU and the City of Delaware will collaborate with the Ohio EPA for an upcoming grant-supported speaker series on water management careers.

DELAWARE, Ohio – Designed for high school and college students, you’re invited to participate in a three-day, online “Careers in Water Management Speaker Series.”

The free event will be held Oct. 5-7 and provide information about careers in stormwater, wastewater, watershed, and drinking water management, among other fields.

Contact Caroline Cicerchi for Zoom Details:

Careers in Water Management Speaker Series I

Monday, Oct. 5 from 9:30 AM – 10:20 AM:

Jeff Paetz, Phoenix Environmental (15 minutes)
Heather Sheets, Ohio Clean Marinas (15 minutes)
Caroline Cicerchi, City of Delaware (15 minutes)

Careers in Water Management Speaker Series II

Tuesday, Oct. 6 from 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM:

Sarah Orlando, Ohio Sea Grant (15 minutes)
Chad Spring, City of Delaware (15 minutes)
Erin Wolfe, Delaware SWCD (15 minutes)
Janelle Valdinger, Ohio Wesleyan University (10 minutes)

Careers in Water Management Speaker Series III

Wednesday, Oct. 7 from 11:50 AM – 12:40 PM:

Christine Szymanski, ODNR Scenic Rivers (15 minutes)
Jeff Kauffman, Del-Co Water Company (15 minutes)
Chris Roshon, Preservation Parks (15 minutes)

*The Delaware Run winds through the City of Delaware and Ohio Wesleyan campus. (Photo by Cole Hatcher)*

The event is supported by a grant from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and presented by the OEPA in collaboration with Ohio Wesleyan University and the City of Delaware Public Utilities Department.

The speaker series will include panelists from both the public and private sector, and each session will conclude with a question-and-answer session.

Organizations confirmed to speak during the series include:

City of Delaware Public Utilities
Del-Co Water Co.
Delaware Soil and Water Conservation District
Ohio Clean Marinas
Ohio Department of Natural Resources: Scenic Rivers
Ohio Sea Grant/OSU Extension
Phoenix Environmental

The sessions – also part of the OWU classes Introduction to Environment and Sustainability 100.1 and Conversations Toward a Sustainable Future 100.2/400.1 – are scheduled for the following dates and times:

9:30 a.m. to 10:20 a.m. Oct. 5
6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 6
11:50 a.m. to 12:40 p.m. Oct. 7

For access to the online Zoom sessions, email Caroline Cicerchi, Delaware’s watershed and sustainability coordinator, at ccicerchi@delawareohio.net. Learn more about Ohio Wesleyan’s Environment and Sustainability Program at owu.edu/environment.