Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis will celebrate Campus Sustainability Week Oct. 17-21 with various speakers and information stations around the campus.
Campus Sustainability Week — along with national Campus Sustainability Day, Thursday, Oct. 20 — is held to bring attention to the achievements and challenges for students, faculty and staff in working to instill sustainability principles in higher education institutions and their surrounding communities.
Faculty, staff and students from all campuses are invited to attend talks from noon-1 p.m. Tuesday-Friday in the Cori and Erlanger auditoriums on the first floor of the McDonnell Medical Sciences Building.
- Tuesday, Oct. 18: Jean Ponzi, green resources manager at the Missouri Botanical Garden’s EarthWays Center, will speak on “Sustainability 101” in the Erlanger Auditorium;
- Wednesday, Oct. 19: Jerry Pinkner, research lab manager in Molecular Microbiology, will speak on “Sustainable Labs” in the Erlanger Auditorium;
- Thursday, Oct. 20: Kathleen Logan Smith, executive director of the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, will speak on “Dry Basements, Healthy Streams & You” in the Erlanger Auditorium;
- Friday, Oct. 21: Jim Stueber, director of facilities engineering, and Toni McMurphy, a consultant to the Facilities Management Department, and Phil Valko, director of sustainability for the university, will host an open forum with a question-and-answer session in the Cori Auditorium. They will give an overview of what the School of Medicine is doing with sustainability initiatives, with a focus on energy, dining services, purchasing, recycling and transportation.
In addition, each day that week, members of the school’s Sustainability Action Team will staff information tables in the Sea Shell Lobby and in the Hope Plaza outside of the BJC Institute of Health at Washington University School of Medicine from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
An information table will be in the 4444 Forest Park lobby Wednesday, Oct. 19 only. Visitors may take the university’s Sustainability Pledge, learn about the upcoming art contest for children, join the Sustainability Action Team and purchase T-shirts or water bottles for $5 each or tote bags for $2. Cash or checks will be accepted.