News 2016: Green Fair to showcase various sustainability and eco-friendly projects from throughout the region

Dr. Jane Goodall will tour fair prior to 7 p.m. lecture

Today UMass Dartmouth will host 20-plus groups, organizations, and individuals to participate in a fair showcasing various sustainability and eco-friendly projects from throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island.The Green Fair will take place today, 4-5:30 p.m. at UMass Dartmouth’s Claire T. Carney Library Living Room. Dr. Jane Goodall will tour the fair with UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Peyton R. Helm and Provost Mohammad Karim.

Participants in the Green Fair include:

Bones - Your Inner Animal

UMass Dartmouth Assistant Biology Professor Kathryn Kavanagh and her students will present their project on teaching evolutionary concepts to K-8 students. This program is conducted by Biology undergraduate students in Professor Kavanagh’s Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy class. The goal is to introduce major biological concepts to elementary and middle school students through the excitement of seeing amazing animal skeletons.

Coral Carnival

Roger Williams Park Zoo’s Roots & Shoots chapter will present on an educational carnival the group organized to support initiatives educating the public about the dangers coral reefs face and how we can help.

Eco-Art: Creating Through Destruction

UMass Dartmouth student Taylor Penning will present her artwork created with an environmental message in mind. Taylor uses material collected from litter she gathers on nature walks and creates “eco-art” which envisions new possibilities to portray this destruction in a way which contradicts the creation and destruction of our planet.

The Gifts of the Rainforest

The Rainbow Workshop and Learning Center, located in Assonet, Massachusetts, will showcase their project on introducing the Brazilian Rainforest to young students and to give them the tools to develop a deep appreciation for this ecosystem necessary for the survival of all life.

Getting Back to Our Roots

Dartmouth Middle School students and teachers will present their work in integrating agriculture into academia by creating an outdoor classroom. The goals of the project are to have students prepare seedlings, transplant, prune, eradicate invasives, harvest, preserve and establish raised beds in the school’s central courtyard.

Boy Scout Projects to Enhance the Environment and Public Enjoyment of Natural Areas

The Dartmouth Natural Resource Trust (DNRT) has engaged Boy Scouts in projects that use their talents to help the environment and make the community a better place to live. This display will highlight two such projects. The DNRT is a non-profit land trust that owns over 1,700 acres of land and manages more than 35 miles of hiking trails in Dartmouth. Its mission is to preserve and protect Dartmouth’s natural resources for people and nature, forever.

Tale of a Local River – Community Impact on the Runnins River

The work presented by four students will represent the efforts of all 10th grade Biology students at Seekonk High School. Each year the students are involved in the acquisition and analysis of data collected from a local river found in Seekonk Massachusetts called the Runnins River. The students collected chemistry data and macroinvertebrates on a field trip and then needed to interpret the data collected to see the overall health of the river. 

Soiled Water: Minimizing Runoff Contamination

Seekonk High School students and teachers will present on the pressing issue in environmental preservation of contamination of water sources from runoff, either from compost or fertilizer sources. Contamination not only affects ecosystems, but also human populations. As the risks related to runoff become threats to the environment and society, it becomes crucial to develop methods to minimize the contamination of water sources.

The Outdoor Classroom

George H. Potter Elementary School students and teachers will showcase the output of the fived raised beds erected in the school’s courtyard. This fall was the first harvest, which produced one thousand pounds of squash and pumpkins. The group in now working on creating a bird sanctuary.

UMass Dartmouth Engineers without Borders

UMass Dartmouth’s Engineers without Borders Chapter is entering the fifth year of an estimated six-year-long rural aqueduct project in the indigenous Ngobe community of Valle Las Perlas, Bocas del Toro, Panama. The goal of the project is to improve the water supply system currently in place.

Animals on the Friends Academy Campus in January

Friends Academy sixth graders and teachers will present their findings from a science experiment on what animals can be found on their school grounds. The students are planning to repeat this experiment in May to see if there are any seasonal changes.

Friends Academy Garden

The goal for this presentation is to educate the public about the Friends Academy Garden and how it helps the community. The goal of the Friends Academy garden is to teach students about gardening and where their food comes from and to provide fresh produce to people in need. The garden was started in 2007 and since 2009 has been run by one of our sixth and seventh grade teachers with help from students.

Solar Panels at Friends Academy

Friends Academy installed solar panels on campus two years ago. There was a celebration throughout the school. The idea for solar panels was generated by a group of eighth graders about five years ago in a group whose goal was to find a service project to do at the school. The panels generate energy for the school, but the school does not use it all, making Friends Academy an energy producer.

The Hunger Initiative presenting UMass Dartmouth Grows & Students Helping Students

The UMass Dartmouth Hunger Initiative works with its fellow student groups to create a holistic and creative way to address food insecurity. The students will present on their permaculture garden and the student-led food pantry, which helps link the idea of sustainable farming with food justice.

Tikkun Olam

The students at the Ziskind School have been creating “Mitzvah strips” this year. The students write their mitzvah on a strip of paper that will then be attached to the chain. It is usually something they’ve done at home, whether it’s walking the dog or helping a sibling with work. A mitzvah is a commandment, or good deed. The school is constructing an extremely long paper chain and their goal was to have the chain as long the Torah, about 140 feet.

The Importance of Pollinators

The students in the Let’s Move Beyond the Bell After School Program at Hayden-McFadden Elementary have been learning each week about pollinators and their importance for environmental and ecological stability. UMass Dartmouth student Melissa Masse has been doing weekly hands-on activities with the students to show what pollinators are, why they’re important, and different models of pollination. She has been creating recycled and up-cycled crafts with the students to build a walking float pollinator garden complete with flowers, plants, and their pollinators.

Living the Green Life

Morton Middle School students and teachers will present on three of the school’s elective courses in which students study the natural world, use technology to design 21st century sustainable living spaces, and take ownership of their school and surrounding community by studying simple strategies for living a green life.

“Heart, Mind, Art and Action” – Art for a Cause

Utilizing the concept of engaging our “Heart, Mind, Art and Action”, art students at Our Sisters’ School in grades five through eight, have dedicated their skills to the task of creating nature-inspired art. Their work generates a message that inspires the viewer to reflect, think and take action on the important work of advocating for causes such as the protection of endangered animals, natural habitats, and even engaging local community members in active participation of supporting environmental, social and civic causes.

Environmental Science Fair Projects

Our Sisters’ School teachers and staff have selected several exemplary STEAM science fair projects to be displayed. The goal is to share a broad range of young women’s creative and critical thinking around environmental issues.

“Natural Wonder” Outdoor Classroom Design

Our Sisters’ School students have focused their designs on creating specific areas where all who visit will engage their senses, body and mind in a variety of meaningful activities. The designs include areas to explore and learn about the beauty and wonder of nature while simultaneously, actively developing observation skills, and creative and innovative thinking as they learn to understand, appreciate and love the natural world.

Grow Education

Grow Education, a program of the Marion Institute, builds community gardens, using food as a unifying platform to cultivate authentic relationships with families and neighborhoods in New Bedford. Grow Education has established nine school-based community garden sites in New Bedford since 2012. The ultimate plan is to establish a school-based community garden at every one of the 23 neighborhood schools in the city.

UMass Dartmouth graphic design student honors thesis

UMass Dartmouth senior graphic design student Kaci Dumas is working on novel ways to educate others about the importance of recycling to reduce plastic waste in the oceans.

Salt marshes as a buffer against rising tides

UMass Dartmouth students Ashley Ciulla and Baldwin Dilone have spurred an ongoing movement to enlighten and engage community members, and to generate productive discussion about the next steps to protect our communities from the consequences of climate change.

Save the eels project

Students and teachers from the Global Learning Charter School in New Bedford will present their project on educating the community about the existence of the eel habitat and develop ways to monitor and keep the river healthy so our eels will survive.

Buttonwood Park Zoo's Roots & Shoots Club

Members of the Zoo’s Roots & Shoots club will present on their initiatives to address issues in their community and how they will support young people blossoming into leaders to become the next generation of Dr. Jane Goodalls.

World-renowned ethologist, conservationist and UN Messenger of Peace Dr. Jane Goodall will visit UMass Dartmouth today, Thursday, April 7, 2016. Dr. Jane Goodall is best known for her landmark study of chimpanzee behavior in what is now Tanzania beginning 55 years ago.