The Kean community is invited to attend the Sustain the Environment Through Practical Studies (STEPS) symposium, which will take place on Wednesday, November 2, 2016, in Little Theatre from 3 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.
The STEPS program is sponsored by The School of Environmental and Sustainability Sciences (SESS). SESS hopes this is the start of an annual student symposium that the Kean community can benefit from.
The goal of STEPS is to motivate other students to go out and expand their knowledge through various avenues. The idea for the program came from the faculty of SESS after they noticed the students’ efforts in the field.
“We…were amazed and inspired by our students, who demonstrated excellency when competing for the prestigious scholarships and paid internships (nationally) and conducted wonderful field research as undergraduate students,” Qi commented. “We want to use this symposium to showcase their [students’] accomplishments.”
This admiration for the students’ efforts led to the decision to have students currently enrolled in SESS serve as presenters during the symposium. Each presenter has gained experience in the field, either through scholarships, grants, internships or research-based projects. They will present their experiences through an array of topics at STEPS.
“…We want other Kean [University] students to know about the wonderful opportunities out there (scholarships, internships, etc.) for them to engage in high quality field studies,” said Qi, speaking on the behalf of SESS. “We want them to be more exposed to the wonderful fields of environmental and sustainability sciences as well. They could see how their peer student colleagues are making an impact to the world by engaging in research in these important fields traveling all across the world.”
Not only have students absorbed knowledge and experience outside of Kean University, but on campus as well. Qi pointed out the efforts made by Kean University to improve the environment and community, a topic which may come up at STEPS.
“Kean University offers a variety of green infrastructure and resources that is being utilized as living laboratories to students in [SESS],” Qi said. “These include the large-scale aerobic composter for food waste recycling, Liberty Hall farm for organic and sustainable farming, [and] the Highlands for outdoor environmental field research. Our students at SESS also work as interns at these facilities to ensure their daily operations as well as offer educational units to local communities to raise environmental awareness.”
The overall theme of the symposium is environmental sustainability and research, and how students can take the extra step during college to establish their education.
“We stress the importance of experiential learning during the process, or 'learning by doing',” Qi said. “By working on actual real-world projects with established scientists and experts in the field, students were able to gain valuable skills to supplement their classroom learning at Kean.”
Students are encouraged to attend STEPS and learn about the environment, sustainability and their peers' experiences in the field.
