Students for Environmental and Ecological Development are trying to raise awareness of Earth Day on Sunday through a proposed new curriculum and a series of weekend events.
In honor of Earth Day, SEED Sen. Lisa Zelljadt will present a bill to Associated Student Government senators next week calling for the implementation of an environmental studies minor starting Fall Quarter.
Zelljadt, who has worked for more than a year on the proposal for a minor with Weinberg Assoc. Dean Robert Coen and Asst. Dean Mary Finn, said she feels the minor will happen whether ASG passes the bill or not.
“I want to start with a minor and expand it to a major if people are interested,” she said. “We already have preliminary course proposal.”
Zelljadt said she wants to present another option to students interested in environmental policy but not in the environmental science curriculum.
“By the time you get through lab science, there are only two classes that are humanities-related left in the environmental science major,” said Zelljadt, a Weinberg sophomore. “I found a lot of people who are interested in the humanities and policy side of the major who felt there was something missing.”
ASG Academic Vice President Ebo Dawson-Andoh said Zelljadt’s hard work researching the proposed minor has paid off.
“Research will continue to be the focus of the academic committee,” said Dawson-Andoh, a Weinberg sophomore. “Lisa has worked for over a year and a half on this and talked to all the administrators she needs to get this accomplished.”
Students in the minor would be required to take specific classes in political science, statistics and geography, and would have options for humanities classes including sociology and economics.
SEED President Genevieve Maricle, an environmental science major, said an environmental studies minor would be an “absolutely wonderful thing for campus.”
“A lot of people don’t major in environmental science because there’s a very strong science requirement,” said Maricle, a Weinberg junior. “I think people just interested in the policy side should be given an opportunity as well. This could get a lot more people involved and interested in the issues.”
But SEED also hopes to spread environmental issues to the campus through programming and events, not just classes.
SEED will hold an all-campus picnic from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Deering Meadow today and sponsor a 5K race at the Lakefill Saturday in honor of Earth Day this week.
Because Earth Week is one of SEED’s main focus areas, Maricle said it is the group’s goal to “get the word out in a non-oppressive way.”
“We want to show students that SEED can be about having fun doing things outside rather than just fighting the administration,” she said. “We are trying to break that image.”
The picnic will feature donated food from SEED members, a drum circle and acoustic guitars. Maricle came up with the idea for the 5K after realizing there were no races this weekend in honor of Earth Day.
“I thought we needed an Earth Day 5K,” she said. “The whole point is to get people who wouldn’t normally think about Earth Day to acknowledge it. They still get to run, but they also learn a little bit.”
