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Turtles and frogs get new home
WSU earns Green Washington sustainability award
Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012
By Kathy Barnard, College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences
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| The WSU Green Bike program, started in fall 2009, draws student participation campuswide. (Photo by WSU Photo Services) |
PULLMAN, Wash. – A new population of painted turtles will find a home in their native Palouse next spring, and endangered Columbia spotted frogs will be croaking right beside them on the Pullman campus of Washington State University.
Both will benefit from the first project funded by the WSU Green Fund, which is built from an optional $5 fee WSU students pay to help fund environmental projects proposed by undergraduates. Students from the Environmental Science Club and the WSU chapter of the Wildlife Society will join forces to restore a pond in the new arboretum to provide habitat for turtles and frogs.
 WSU's 2012 Imagine Tomorrow competition draws students from high schools statewide.
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Based on academic, operational and outreach programs aimed at environmental sustainability, WSU was one of two winners in the government or academia category for the "Green Washington” Awards from the magazine. The 2012 awards were presented in Seattle Nov. 2.
"This award recognizes strategic and concerted efforts to make Washington State University greener on a number of fronts,” said WSU President Elson S. Floyd. "Our institutional commitment to sustainability remains one of our most deeply held values.”
Tanya Welborn, president of WSU’s Environmental Science Club, agrees.
"It’s amazing,” said the senior environmental science major from Arlington, Wash. "I definitely think WSU earned this honor. There is a lot going on all over the Pullman campus and in the community, and students have a lot to do with that.”
Winners were selected from a large pool of nominations by a panel of judges from prominent organizations in the region, including the Washington Environmental Council, Climate Solutions, the Bainbridge Graduate Institute and the Washington Clean Technology Alliance. In addition to identifying a "Green 50” list of outstanding organizations, the magazine also recognized winners in 12 categories drawn from across the state and virtually every sector of the economy.
In addition to the student-led Green Fund, WSU also was honored for recent sustainability initiatives in:
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Green building practices
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Green printing and publishing practices
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Creation of the Center for Environmental Research, Education and Outreach
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Outreach such as the annual Imagine Tomorrow competition, which engages high school students from throughout the state in developing creative, carefully researched solutions to society’s energy challenges
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Water conservation
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Transportation, including a new Green Bike-sharing program
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Faculty research on sustainability issues such as climate-friendly farming, global warming and pollution
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Composting
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A Climate Action Plan that provides a framework for WSU faculty, students and staff to work together in making decisions that will result in measurable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions
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Energy conservation
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Contacts:
Dwight Hagihara, executive director, Environmental Health and Safety - Risk Management Services, 509-335-305, hagihara@wsu.edu
Tanya Welborn, president, WSU Environmental Science Club, tanya.welborn@wsu.edu
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