From creative writing to community service to laboratory research, Eberly College students of all majors are studying environmental issues in the classroom and beyond.
From recycling masks and to-go containers to properly disposing of hazardous waste, students in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences are finding new ways to tackle some of the most pressing environmental issues on West Virginia University’s campus and in the greater Morgantown community.
“People vs. Planet,” an Honors College course taught by Teaching Instructor of Multi- and Interdisciplinary Studies Andrea Soccorsi, is challenging students to identify how diverse perspectives from the sciences, social sciences and humanities can help them understand the issues surrounding climate change and propose solutions.
“When I first created this course, I knew that I wanted the focus to be on not just service to the community, which is very important, but also action,” Soccorsi said. “For many of us, it can be very easy to slide into a rut when it comes to climate change and climate action because we are so inundated with and overwhelmed by information. We think that the issue is too huge to tackle, so we don't bother. I wanted the students to see that small personal actions, such as reducing their consumption of single-use plastic items or being aware of their carbon footprint when they visit a national park, can have huge positive impacts.”
Throughout the fall 2020 semester, 25 students used critical thinking, reading and writing skills to investigate the science of climate change and its representation in multimedia and literature. They translated these theoretical problems into real-world solutions through action projects with local nonprofit organizations and the City of Morgantown.
“I also want students to understand the ways in which their own disciplinary foundations can inform not only an understanding of climate change, but also offer plausible solutions,” Soccorsi said. “The action projects are a way for students to achieve those objectives and give back to the community at the same time, which is one of the stated missions of WVU as an institution of higher learning: to give back to the community it serves.”
Atlanta native Leah Thomas learned about how her home away from home is reacting and responding to the energy crisis. She teamed up with the WVU Humanities Center, interviewing renowned Appalachian writer and WVU Honorary Doctorate of Letters recipient Ann Pancake about how the nation’s energy crisis is perceived by West Virginians.
Watch the video from the WVU Humanities Center.
“I found this topic interesting because I am from Georgia and know that West Virginia produces the majority of energy for the East Coast, yet it is in the midst of a dying industry as coal becomes scarce and new energy forms are needed,” said Thomas, a sophomore in the Department of Forensic and Investigative Science.
Taking this course motivated Thomas to decrease her plastic use and drive time while also increasing her time outdoors.
“I believe the climate crisis is incredibly important for students to learn about because in a few years it will become an overwhelming issue that will affect us daily,” she said. “Many students, including me before enrolling in this class, do not realize the effect we have on the planet – everything from driving around campus, failing to recycle and the overproduction of food.”
Thomas hopes to share what she’s learned about climate change with WVU’s Student Government Association and other campus leaders.
“I learned through this class that Chick-Fil-A in the Mountainlair generates the only Styrofoam we still use on campus. These things, along with educating ourselves on our governmental leaders and their stances on the climate crisis, are so important for every student to learn about to help limit our waste and use greener alternatives,” Thomas said. “We have a responsibility to our planet to keep it clean and safe, and it will take students from every field of study to accomplish it.”
As a first-year student pondering what classes to take in his first semester of college, Nathaniel Beer immediately registered for the course because of its compelling name.
“I don’t think there is a single greater threat to humanity than climate change and global warming. Environmental issues affect every aspect of the world, whether it is agriculture, water, electricity, immigration, physical and mental health, the economy or simply if and how humans will live on this planet in the future,” Beer said. “Studying the environment helps us have a more complete understanding of what is happening. It is also important to monitor and study human behavior, including what positive or negative effects it is having on the planet. It is only going to get worse if we don’t start studying it and taking action now.”
Beer used his developing skills as a communication studies major to help create a calendar for the Monongalia County Solid Waste Authority that would inform the community about proper disposal of hazardous materials.
“Each month offers information on a different hazardous material and how to properly dispose of it,” Beer said. “As part of the project’s research and design team, I was in charge of researching appliances with freon and lithium batteries and designing a calendar page for that material.”
After completing the calendar, Beer and his classmates presented the draft to the Monongalia County Solid Waste Authority board members for approval.
“Once the calendar was actually printed, we distributed it to members of the community for free so more people would learn how to and hopefully choose to dispose of hazardous materials properly,” Beer said. “I learned the important skill of condensing a vast amount of information into only the essential need-to-know details and how to write something presented to the public.”
The interdisciplinary course also pushed first-year mathematics major Gabriel Cardella out of his comfort zone as he learned new skills and ways of thinking.
“My favorite part of the class was learning about the complexity of climate change and its true interdisciplinarity through the readings and in-class discussions. Before taking the class, I never thought how much climate change affects aspects of countless other disciplines, such as migration patterns in the discipline of human geography, the degradation of national parks in the discipline of tourism or business decisions and profits in the discipline of economics,” said Cardella, a Belcamp, Maryland, native.
His group collaborated with WVU’s Office of Sustainability to create a multimedia campaign encouraging proper disposal of personal protective equipment, like masks and gloves, during the pandemic.
“We created tweets, graphics and a video shared on the office’s social media accounts. The goal of the project was to inform students, faculty and staff about the best ways to dispose of PPE waste, what to do if PPE waste is seen on the ground and how to properly clean dining hall to-go containers to make them recyclable,” Cardella said. “Along with learning how to properly dispose of PPE, the action project taught me how to effectively work in a group setting and how to use photo and video editing software. Thinking about issues more critically from an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach is a skill that I am excited to apply to my life and career in the future.”