Kean University
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

1. The Sustainability Senior Practicum (SUST 4300) has a team of students dedicated to collecting data throughout campus relating to student perceptions of sustainability and advancing initiatives on campus.

2. During Earth Week each year, the students, faculty, and staff of Kean are invited to numerous events across campus to learn about sustainability and take part in service activities (https://www.kean.edu/news/earth-week-educates-and-inspires-students) including:
- A river cleanup (attracting over 100 participants each year)
- A presentation by Raptor Trust on their bird rehabilitation efforts
- Earth Day panel discussions.

3. The Galleries at Kean are focusing this academic year (2022-23) on sustainability in art. Each exhibition focuses on reclaimed creations or art that highlights nature's beauty (Https://galleries.kean.edu)

1. Our Sustainability Senior Practicum is taught to all Environmental Science, Environmental Biology, and Sustainability Science majors. Each year, student teams work as an environmental consulting firm and adopt real-world "clients" to address issues that they are facing. Current and past clients from the past few years include: The Town of Roselle Park (to design a sustainable irrigation system), The Hanson Park Conservancy (to restore a pollinator meadow), the Flatiron Building in NYC (conduct a LEED assessment), The Staten Island Zoo (design a pollinator garden), Town of Hillside (design a town-wide litter inventory and removal plan, Groundwork Elizabeth (to conduct wildlife inventory of local parks), and the Town of Neptune (to design a coastal-resiliency project).

2. Kean University Department of Environmental and Sustainability Science faculty and students conduct workshops with high school students and teach them about renewable energy. https://www.kean.edu/news/high-school-students-learn-about-renewable-energy-kean

3. Kean faculty and students teach in the pre-college summer program at Kean Skylands. Programs are offered for high school students interested in Environmental science.
https://www.kean.edu/news/high-school-students-learn-kean-skylands-living-laboratory

4. There is a Skylands Community Day through which the public is invited to learn about bird conservation, wildlife monitoring, plant identification, and other types of environmental science work (https://www.kean.edu/kean-skylands-community-day)

1. Approximately 150 students were invited to a panel discussion that explored the role of business in addressing the threat of climate change and the importance of Environmental Social Governance (ESG) Investing.

2. Indoor air quality is monitored using Aeroqual Monitors for a course on Environmental Instrumentation.

1. A LEED Lab course taught for our Sustainability minors by a LEED AP. Generally offered as an Independent Research annually.

2. Building envelopes are created using thermal imaging acquired from drones in our Drone courses and Environmental Instrumentation.

Every year, a course in Renewable Energy is taught through the Department of Environmental and Sustainability Science and students look at energy use throughout campus. They also use the geothermal wells and solar panels on campus as teaching tools.

As stated in the Building section above, the LEED Lab course and Drones courses both look at energy use in buildings.

1. Students at dining centers are instructed to separate compostable waste from landfill waste. Student workers have been hired to conduct a food waste audit.

2. Students in ENV 1000/1100 (Foundations of Environmental Science) monitor food use in a food log.

2. Student researchers are participating in a two-year Life Cycle Assessment that will compare and analyze aquaponic and hydroponic vegetable production, two alternative water-based growing techniques, at facilities on three New Jersey commercial farms (NSF Funded grant that was incorporated into classes). https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1946746

3. Within the newly renovated college greenhouse, independent study students have assisted in the design and construction of small-scale hydroponics systems to study how system design impacts food production.

4. Within the newly renovated college greenhouse, independent study students work with Groundworks Elizabeth to grow leafy vegetables using hydroponics systems. The vegetables are then donated to people in need.

1. Students in BIO 3614 (Principles of Ecology), ENV 1000/1100 (Environmental Science) and SUST 1000 (Introduction to Sustainability) use the Elizabeth River and Trotter's Creek on the main campus to monitor water quality and biodiversity.
2. Farm plots have been established on campus grounds to monitor the growth of crops using various ratios of food-based compost that was generated on campus.
3. Rocks throughout campus are collected and identified in ES 1200 (Geology).
4. At the Skylands Campus in Jefferson, NJ, the entire 48 acres are used as a living laboratory including the forests, streams and lake. The grounds are used for many courses that involve the following methods:
1. Wildlife monitoring
2. Vegetation identification
3. Topography and Bathymetry (using drones)
4. Water quality assessment
5. Biodiversity assessment (plants, animals, fungi)
6. Migratory birds are monitored through a banding station and MOTUS tower.
7. Environmental history (mining, land use changes, dendrochronology)

1. Students and faculty ran a campus-wide campaign in spring 2022 to promote food waste recycling and Kean University
https://www.keanresearchdays.com/student-poster-presentation-2022-feed/sample-poster-layout-k37sg-btzea-ewstr-lmnln-2s6jh-zr9yy-9cbj6

2. An important class activity for all sections of ENV 1000/1100 is a plastic film recycling campaign in which students collect plastics for NexTrex recycling program.
https://www.nj.com/news/2023/01/nj-college-students-collected-over-400-pounds-and-counting-of-plastic-waste.html

3. New Jersey Clean Communities (https://www.njclean.org/) is now located at Kean University (as of January 2023) and holds workshops on campus to promote litter reduction.

1. Students in ENV 1000/1100 conduct water quality tests of tap water from their homes and across campus.

2. In BIO 3614 (Ecology), ENV 1100 and SUST 1000, students conduct outdoor water quality for excessive nutrients and pH.

Student interns and work-study positions serve as Sustainability Task Force Researchers who collect and analyze data throughout campus relating to sustainability efforts. These students also help by promoting sustainability events and efforts.

1. Kean University established Cougar Pantry in March 2019, as part of an ongoing effort to address hunger and food insecurity among undergraduate and graduate students within the Kean University campus community.

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Diversity & Affordability:

1. Kean University established Cougar Pantry in March 2019, as part of an ongoing effort to address hunger and food insecurity among undergraduate and graduate students within the Kean University campus community.

2. John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University is in the process of proposing a long term strategy to lower disproportionately high property taxes for residents of the state’s urban areas

3. John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University hosted two virtual policy retreats, attended by members of the New Jersey Legislative Black Caucus; the New Jersey Legislative Latino Caucus, including NJ Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Ruiz; and the New Jersey Urban Mayors Association, with an appearance by NJ General Assembly Speaker Craig J. Coughlin, to lay the groundwork for a statewide urban policy agenda.

4. John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University hosted community conversations at Kean University in Union Township and in four member-cities of the New Jersey Urban Mayors Association (NJUMA) — Atlantic City, Trenton, Bridgeton, and Camden — to bolster the statewide urban policy agenda on collaborative, evidence-informed solutions to prevent and reduce violence in urban centers and for all New Jerseyans by convening resident-leaders; representatives of state, county, and municipal government; community-based, non-profit, and non-governmental organizations with local, regional, and national portfolios; and academic experts to champion a commitment to community wellness and safety.

5. John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University hosted a leadership and development retreat for staff members of members of the New Jersey Legislative Black Caucus (NJLBC) to allow staff members to frame how they would like to be supported by the Institute in helping themselves to succeed professionally and to in helping themselves and their members accomplish their legislative and policy priorities for the communities they represent.

6. Kean’s Premiere States pledges to support artists and communities of color (https://premierestagesatkean.com)

1. Students in the College of Natural Science evaluated the presence of tetracycline-resistant bacteria in Kean University soil.
https://www.keanresearchdays.com/student-poster-presentation-2022-feed/sample-poster-layout-k37sg-btzea-ewstr-lmnln-2s6jh-zr9yy-8k9m5

2. Kean, in collaboration with Leonard Bielory, M.D. of StarRx Allergy & Asthma Clinic, LLC, in Springfield NJ, has established Regional Pollen Counting Station on the Kean University campus. The station which is operated by students under the supervision of Nan Perigo (STEM Facilities Manager) and Dr. Marshall Hayes (Lecturer & RFI Coordinator) collects, counts, identifies, and reports daily pollen counts for trees, grasses, weeds, and mold spores throughout the pollen season (March through October). The pollen data obtained from a collection device located on the roof of the STEM building is uploaded to StarRx’s database and transmitted to android and iOS mobile phones and tablets via the AccuPollen Allergy Tracker™ App.

3. The Kean Wellness Center has a number of events for students and faculty to prioritize mental health and sustainability including yoga and save sex workshops (https://kean.campuslabs.com/engage/events?categories=2423)