Thursday, April 11, 2024

As Earth Day approaches, Muskegon Community College (MCC) is making plans to host events from April 15 through April 22, 2024. The community is invited to join in the free celebration while learning more about the importance of environmental stewardship.

From April 15-22, 2024, MCC students studying environmental ethics will display posters and offer fliers they created about environmental conservation and sustainability. The posters can be viewed in the Stevenson Center lobby located at the east entrance of 221 S. Quarterline Road.

Students studying environmental ethics explore various attitudes toward nature, individual and public policy choices that affect the local and global environment, the moral status of animals, and the proper role of science and technology in an environmentally sensitive world.

On Thursday, April 18, 2024, Kathy Evans of the Muskegon Lake Watershed Partnership will speak about the many efforts to restore and protect our local natural habitats. Evans is a lifetime environmental activist and will talk about how we as individuals can do our part for the environment. She will speak from 12:15pm – 1:15pm at MCC’s Blue and Gold Room on the main campus at 221 S. Quarterline Road.

Since 1992, Evans has worked with the Muskegon Lake Watershed Partnership to implement the Muskegon Lake Remedial Action Plan (RAP). She is also a founding board member of the Muskegon River Watershed Assembly. She received the Great Lakes Commission Outstanding Service Award in 2005 and chaired the Statewide Public Advisory Council for Michigan Areas of Concern from 1999-2005, and from 2007-2009. For her efforts to restore fish and wildlife habitat in the Muskegon Lake AOC, she received the NOAA Restoration Center’s “Excellence in Restoration” Award in 2010.

On Monday, April 22, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. MCC’s Garden Club members will giveaway flower and vegetable plant starters and seeds at the main entrance and Stevenson Center entrance. Their goal is to encourage community members to cultivate their green spaces and contribute to a healthier ecosystem.

These events are intended to serve as a reminder of the interconnectedness of our community and the vital role that our natural habitat, specifically Lake Michigan, plays in binding us together.

MCC’s commitment to the environment continues year-round through our Environmental Science Lecture & Lab. Students in this course study environmental issues occurring at regional to global scales. Natural and human systems throughout West Michigan are studied to provide local context for broader environmental concepts.  Students enjoy a variety of on-campus and off-campus field trips to apply the techniques of field studies and learn from local experts.

In addition, the campus offers a free nature trail, the Kasey Hartz Natural Area on its main campus and provides a webpage devoted to Sustainability Resources on its main webpage at www.muskegoncc.edu.