SU Showcase 2011 gearing up to celebrate sustainability again

Organizers of SU Showcase, the campus-wide day-long celebration devoted to student research, discovery and creativity, are calling on Syracuse University and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry students and faculty to help make the spring event an exciting forum for promoting sustainability. 

SU Showcase 2011 will be held on Monday, May 2, in Schine Student Center and throughout the SU campus. Classes will be in session on that day. 

“Syracuse University is firmly committed to identifying and promoting sustainable practices, and to teaching its students about issues related to sustainability. As a result, it makes sense that sustainability education is the theme of SU Showcase,” says Gerald R. Greenberg, senior associate dean in The College of Arts and Sciences and co-chair of SU Showcase 2011. “The close proximity of SU Showcase to Earth Day creates some meaningful synergies that cut across the disciplines, uniting members of the campus community.” 

A new piece to the upcoming Showcase is the availability of some seed funding to enhance participation. 

“We want to give faculty the opportunity to help develop and implement course assignments and student projects that can be shared at SU Showcase,” says Rachel May, coordinator of sustainability education at SU and co-chair of SU Showcase 2011. “We will also be seeking to have satellite installations in the various schools and colleges, to call attention to the event and the issues.” 

Although many of the event’s details are still being worked out, the major programs have been secured. 

SU Showcase 2011 will feature a morning “teach-in” on climate change. Dave Eichorn, meteorologist and current SUNY-ESF environmental studies graduate student, will kick off the teach-in with a breakfast presentation on the changing climate of Central New York. An expo of student work will highlight the afternoon activities. The evening program will be hosted by experts on creative, visual approaches to understanding global warming. 

Last spring’s SU Showcase left a permanent legacy on campus through the student design and construction of a rain garden in the Waverly parking lot. Staff and students organizing SU Showcase plan to make the “legacy project” an annual tradition and welcome suggestions for the 2011 project. 

Students and faculty looking to help put on SU Showcase 2011, apply for project funding or submit a presentation proposal, should contact May at (315) 443-9726 or sumay@syr.edu.