Education and Outreach
The Center for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Stewardship is committed to educating not only our students but also our community—cultivating opportunities for students and faculty to learn and engage with the community
The Center fosters the education and development of undergraduate and graduate students as scientists, training them to effectively disseminate their findings. CBEST provides a public platform for the local Villanova community and beyond to engage in educational opportunities and understand the influence of human activities on the Earth’s biodiversity and ecosystems locally, regionally and globally. Through research and community interactions, CBEST explores solutions that can enhance human stewardship of the richness of life on Earth.
We are excited to highlight local Biodiversity. You could find us every Wednesday in the Summer and Fall of 2023 hosting our seminar series: Biodiversity in Our Neighborhood: The Oakwell Series. Biodiversity is not just for forests and oceans and wild places. We all need to pay attention to what is right in our backyard. Talks focused on everything from Carbon seqestration to bats and more. All talks have been added to our video channel.
Emma Witanowski (GEV, 2024) also recently presented her senior project, under the guidance of Jen Santori, exploring alternative options for Oakwell development. Emma's presentation beautifully explores the history, importance, and potential futures of this beautiful property. We support the preservation of this important green space which is just next door to Villanova and we continue to document, with student involvement, the benefits of having linked natural spaces.
Plants made available to VU community at Greenhouse Open House
Other recent activities to highlight native biodiversity have included BioBlitz events on campus and at Oakwell, a property in limbo and adjacent to Villanova. Students and community are invited to participate in future Blitzes that we'll be spearheading.
Our pollinator garden on campus is thriving and we are adding to the native plant footprint on campus with a new bed adjacent to the greenhouse near Mendel Hall and the SEPTA train station. We are also promoting native plants in home gardens by growing PA natives to go along with some veggie and herb offerings. Our Spring offerings in 2023 were hugely popular and our offerings of natives the May will be even more robust. More Info.
Student Workshops and Science Slams
Every semester, CBEST hosts workshops based on student feedback and ideas. These workshops cover subjects ranging from bioinformatics to effective scientific communication. We also host Science Slams, a productive a way for graduate students from several departments and colleges within the University to get together and present research and work through problems.
Community Partnerships
We are committed to working with and learning from research entities, land managers and stewards, teachers, and other members of the communities both near Villanova and local to our far-flung research sites. Some of our partnerships include:
- Land managers in Florida
- Local Pennsylvania elementary schools
- Environmental education centers in Florida, Maryland, and Massachusetts
In the Now
What we are up to:
- BioBlitz!!!! Head out to Dundale parking lot on West Campus to join us in Blitzing the open meadow area from Noon to 1ish, on Thursday March 25, 2024. Collaborating with Stoneleigh and the Horticulture Crew here at VU, we have been Blitzing both Oakwell and our Meadow Area on Campus to bring focus to the importance of biodiversity right here. This year marks our Second Annual Meadow Blitz and is in conjunction with the City Nature Challenge happening all over this region and around the world.
- Our Native Plant/organic Veggies/Herbs offering (donations requested to cover costs of supplies) was a huge success. We have heard you speak. More Natives!! May 8th from 10-2:30 in Greenhouse. One Day Only! Lots of plants up for grabs. Check us out.
- Awesome Senior Project of Emma Witanowski shines a spotlight on Oakwell and the importance of preserving it.
- Activism! Drs. Sam Chapman and Adam Langley have helped pen two amicus briefs, with the help of Dr. Kelman Wieder, as 'friends of the court'. Their involvement is in support of PA joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. In the briefs, they help explain why it is so important for PA to move forward with this initiative in reducing gas emissions (Amicus Brief 41, Amicus Brief 247).
- Activism! Natural resources are in constant peril. See our letter in support of saving natural lands near Villanova campus.
- We've had a host of graduate students defending this year! Congratulations to you all!
- Seminars and invited speakers are in the works for the spring! Will keep you posted here and through emails (feel free to sign up for announcements via email).
- More fieldwork!
