A Space for Sustainability Studies at UMass Amherst
Philip Sanzo & Linnea Thomas
SES to be the home for sustainability at UMass Amherst
The School of Earth and Sustainability at UMass Amherst was created this past April with the intention of bridging the gap between departments with sustainability potential in order to benefit those students who aspire to pursue a career in conservation.
With this idea in mind, Darci Connor Maresca was hired to write the proposal and is now an Assistant Director of SES.
“Leaders within the departments who really helped to champion this partnership, kept bumping into either opportunities or students or situations where it really would've been beneficial to know about other experts on campus,” Maresca said.
SES, while it is unique from anything else offered at UMass, is not it’s own college and cannot deliver degrees in sustainability. The school consists of four departments: Environmental Conservation, Department of Geosciences, Stockbridge School of Agriculture and just recently the department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning (LARP).
Environmental Conservation, Department of Geosciences and Stockbridge School of Agriculture all fall under the College of Natural Sciences while LARP is apart of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
Having SES span across two colleges allows for more outreach to students who otherwise may not have know about it.
Story by Philip Sanzo
Photos by Linnea Thomas
“So the goal is not to exclude groups that have a kind of interest-passion, or expertise, in these kind of more focused areas,” Maresca said. “We've created a framework, we think, that allows people to step in.”
Maresca does not believe the school’s outreach initiative should stop here.
“So now we have this lovely partnership across two colleges and I would say that our growth isn't done: that there's faculty and programs and potentially other departments across the campus that have expertise in one or more of theses areas,” Maresca said.
Katie O’Connor, a Building & Construction Technology major, grew up in a house built by her parents who owned a construction company. Growing up in that environment spurred a passion for construction and green building technology.
“Another big reason I picked my major is because I have always been really interested in green building technology - such as solar, geothermal, passive solar, etcetera,” O’Connor said.
Kendall Sarapas, is a junior natural resource conservation wildlife (NRC) major. Though very similar to Environmental Science, Sarapas says that NRC is much more hands on.
“I switched from environmental science to NRC and in environmental science it was like in a classroom, you have to know laws and policies about animals and plants and what you can do with an endangered species,” Sarapas said. “Whereas like my tree and shrub ID class is more like a hiking class and being hands on.”
Sarapas originally came to UMass to study engineering, but after thoroughly enjoying her conservation classes, she switched majors.
“I switched over because I really liked the classes and everyone in the classes were really dedicated to what we wanted to learn and no one was just there to get a degree,” Sarapas said. “Like they want to do this when they grow up.”
With intentions of joining the peace core after college, Sarapas’ overall desire to save the planet is what has kept her invested in the program.
According to Maresca, NRC majors are the ones that are expected to make the transition over to the sustainability major once it is created.
“But they’re the ones that care about environmental issues, care about the world, care about climate change but they don’t want to necessarily – they may want to do the science – but they don’t necessarily only want to do the science,” Maresca said. “They might want to do public policy, they might want to do public participation and stake holder engagement, they might want to do advocacy work.”
Maresca describes UMass as being in a “bubble” when it comes to sustainability. She believes that the leaders’ commitment to sustainability has allowed the students to think up and put into affect environmentally friendly enhancements to campus.
“The University really values student ideas,” Maresca said. “And if someone has a good idea and has put together a really compelling proposal, the University is open to change that comes from a student.”
Originally proposed in 2009 by a student, the Franklin Permaculture Garden located outside of Franklin dining commons was the first of five permaculture gardens to be created on campus.
“But it’s totally student driven,” Maresca said of the Permaculture garden. “So students can volunteer to work in the garden, learn how to work in the garden, how to grow things, how to harvest how to turn down the garden at the end of the season how to prep it.”
In the near future, Maresca hopes SES evolves into a school that has a “vibrant student body. And one that proudly identifies with the School of Earth and Sustainability.
Amherst, MA - Kendall Sarapas (above) studies at the Durfee Greenhouse at UMass on Dec. 5, 2016.
Amherst, MA - SES has access to five greenhouses with a variety of plants.