Jared Zinn, a watershed specialist at the Greene County Conservation District, will be giving a presentation titled “The Conservation Movement: Past, Present, and Future” Thursday, April 20. The event will take place in the second Floor Conference Room of the Eberly Library at 7 p.m.
Jewel Wrick, access services librarian, has hosted several events in the library this semester, with the intention of trying to get more students into the library for more than just studying purposes.
Wrick has created profiles for the Eberly Library on different social media to try and encourage students to spend more time in the library for socializing reasons. In February, she worked with the multi-cultural club and organized a Black History Month event. Now, Wrick and several others have organized the conservation event in connection with Earth Day, which is April 22.
Senior David O’Donoghue, a history major and environmental studies minor, is one of the students assisting Wrick in the planning of the event.
O’Donoghue, who spoke with Zinn while organizing the event, said that Zinn will be discussing the history of conservation in the United States, as well as the current state and future of the field. He also said that Zinn may discuss possible career opportunities, which speaks more specifically to those majoring and minoring in environmental science.
Sara Carpenter, a business management major who is also helping with the organization of the event, said that while the topic is not only important, she also hopes that students are able to use what they learn.
“In turn, we are hoping a lot of that information [Zinn provides] is then applied to our campus as well,” said Carpenter.
Carpenter said that she hopes Zinn’s talk encourages students to do their part when it comes to conservation, stating that, for example: when students are offered recycling bins, they need to make the effort and put their recyclables in the respective bins.
Carpenter said the effort simply is not there.
“We aren’t necessarily consciously doing it,” Carpenter said.
She also said that this effort needs to be made into a habit.
Wrick said that she hopes the event will bring the issue to the forefront of students’ minds and make them more aware of the things that need to be done in order for everyone to do their part.
O’Donoghue and Carpenter both stated that after talking with Zinn, they understood that he is very passionate about the topic – Carpenter said Zinn’s passion on the topic is awesome and that he is very knowledgeable on the subject and has a very informational presentation prepared.
According to O’Donoghue, Zinn’s talk will be broad, but will be on an important topic. O’Donoghue is excited to see what Zinn has to say.
“It’s a very broad talk and we wanted him to present on something broad so that all students, no matter their background, would be interested and could participate and learn something,” said O’Donoghue.
He continued to discuss the importance of Zinn’s talk.
“It will be very informational…He is going to be describing the history of the movement that in-part led to the creation of Earth Day,” O’Donoghue said. “So, it’ll give the students some information and context on this movement in the United States, which I think is valuable in itself, just to have that awareness of the movement’s past and its trajectory to the future.”
Two different talks will follow Zinn’s: O’Donoghue will talk about the cemetery conservation project on campus that he is leading, and the eco-stewards will be discussing the nature trail behind Thayer Hall. O’Donoghue said that he doesn’t have his speech completed yet, but that he plans on talking about some conservation issues when it comes to cemetery maintenance.
He also said that he believes the eco-stewards will address the progress that has been made on the nature trail since the project first started several semesters ago and will discuss the trail’s current state.
O’Donoghue encourages students interested in the topic to attend the event and to bring any questions they may have on the topic.