Updates on Spring 2016 Campus Sustainability Fund Grants

Osgood Pond Portable Education Space

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Deb Naybor purchased three 16-foot diameter tipis to be used as portable education space by our community. The tipis are currently being decorated by students, and will be available for sign-out by faculty and staff as of Sept.23rd on a first come first serve basis.  There is no fee.  They may not be used for camping or overnight stays, but each one will house about 15 people seated.  In order to sign out the tipis, you will need to contact Deb Naybor (dnaybor@paulsmiths.edu), and fill out a simple form.  Assembly takes at least two people and about 30 to 60 minutes.

St. Regis Mushrooms

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Students in the St. Reigs Summer Class grew over 15 oyster mushroom patches this summer. The patches were grown in Canoe Storage and served in the St. Regis Café. At the end of the summer season, the students recycled the leftover mushroom patches by using the old spawn to populate new ones as part of a workshop with Thomas Huber. These new oyster mushroom patches have been distributed around campus, and we have two in the Center for Campus Sustainability. Stop by and check them out!

 

 

SAM Fest

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SAM (Science, Art, and Music) Fest was held for its third consecutive year during the Spring. This year’s theme was “The Art and Science of Time.” The event featured a mix of performances by North Country musicians and poets, TED-style talks by faculty, students and visiting guests, exhibits of works by local artists, and a showing of “Chasing Ice,” an award-winning documentary about making dramatic, time-lapse film footage of melting glaciers around the world.

 

Osgood Farm

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Osgood Farm is approaching the end of its first growing season. Thanks to the seed money provided by the Campus Sustainability Fund and help from the Sustainability Field Experience Class, we were able to put in a good size garden and protect our delicious veggies with a solar charged electric fence. A few other projects on site included: *Growing hops provided by Cornell Cooperative Extension *Trail Maintenance and beautification projects. We were able to lay down some Paul Smith’s College provided wood chips around the main entrance of the barn.*Construction of a pig-o-tiller and chicken coop. Throughout the summer, we hosted several community days–where community members came out to enjoy the site or lend a hand with the weeding.

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Osgood Barn Restoration

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The Old Barn got some much needed attention at the Osgood Site this past Spring. Students in the Sustainability Field Ecology Class worked with Professor McLeod to jack up a section of the barn that was drooping; they replaced the floor joints, installed a new floor of the barn (wood was milled from Paul Smith’s College Property), and replaced the barn doors! All the power tools were powered with a mobile solar panel (panel on a cart) built by the students as part of the class. The place is looking good!

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LGBTQ+ Trip

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Bike Patrol

The Northeastern LGBTQ+ Conference is an event which is attended by a vast number of college students every year. Taken place at Stony Brook University in Long Island, New York this past Spring, Paul Smith’s students and advisors had the opportunity to attend many educational seminars about various topics within the LGBTQ+ community.

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Officers will be using the newly purchased bikes on patrol around campus this Fall. Thanks to Office Paul O. who applied for a Campus Sustainability Fund Grant to support the project. The bikes are fully outfitted with all the emergency equipment that is also available in the patrol cars. Bikes will help cut down on the departments emissions, help make the officers more accessible to the community, and get some extra exercise while on duty! Be sure to give them a wave as they bike by!!

St. Regis Mushrooms

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The St. Regis Café Class raised two pigs this summer. The pigs were purchased from local farmers and Paul Smith’s College alumni, Dan and Sarah Burke, at Atlas Hoofed It Farm. Students helped build the pig pen, and collected pre-consumer food scraps to supplement the pigs diet. Current student and Garden Assistant, Tyler Hinkley-Maier, fed them all season long. Black and Tan are the names of the two pigs, and they currently live behind the Horse barn. Both pigs will be butchered this fall and served in the St. Regis Café all year. They were a great addition to the summer Farm-to-Table Program.