Campus Sustainability Day took place on Thursday, October 28 on Dickinson College’s Britton Plaza. With many college organizations in attendance, ALLARM among them, the event highlighted sustainable action on campus and allowed attendees to learn more about organizations like Dickinson’s Center for Sustainable Education and ALLARM. Our table included a macroinvertebrate identification station, pH testing, and a raffle run by a few of our watershed coordinators; Charlotte Kratovil-Lavelle ’24, Nick Bradbury ’23, Cat Dickman ’22, and myself. Our goal was to provide attendees with information about our work with volunteers and to introduce some of the sampling methods we use. My primary role was to plan and run the table, but it would not have been possible without everyone’s help. In a collaborative effort, Cat and I planned all the activities and created info sheets for the table, while Charlotte made infographics outlining the steps of our activities. Prepping and organizing for the event was smooth sailing, and we were incredibly prepared for the event.
The day-of, we all cycled through teaching students how to identify macroinvertebrates and how to test the pH of a water sample. With a touch of trial and error, we fell into a rhythm of sharing what the tests are, why we care about them, and what ALLARM does. It was incredible to see the student engagement, and many asked about how to become involved with ALLARM! Being able to connect my work and interest in sustainability with larger themes on campus was one of the highlights of the day; I’m excited to continue to engage with these ideas and organizations to be more involved with sustainability on campus!
