Westminster College Hosts Student Sustainability Symposium
Located in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, Westminster College is a small liberal arts school serving rural communities in Northwestern Pennsylvania. Mackay Pierce, Associate Director and RCC Campus Coordinator, was invited to the school by Director of Westminster’s Environmental Studies Program, Dr. Helen Boylan.
Every year, Westminster hosts a student environmental symposium. The annual event allows students from colleges and high schools across the region to convene and present posters on their work and research in sustainability. Students from multiple disciplines are present, from those doing research on the impacts of pollutants on local waterways to those studying different uses of solar panels on tiny homes. Clearly, current college students studying environmental issues are thinking about ever-increasing ways to make the world more sustainable.
Pierce met with many students at the symposium to learn about their projects and talk about ways that they can scale up their interest in sustainability and environmental justice. RCC is heavily invested in supporting young environmental organizers. While talking to students about ways they can engage on their campus, Pierce recruited for the RCC Fellowship Program, a competitive national program designed to identify student environmental leaders and support them in campaigns for sustainability on their campuses and in their communities. Pierce also signed up students and faculty for the Rachel Carson Campus Network (RCCN) as well as the upcoming RCC Capitol Hill Days, a national advocacy conference in Washington, DC, being held in March.
After Pierce’s visit, Westminster College became the 57th college to join the Rachel Carson Council Campus Network.
