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
