University of Scranton Earth Day Events

Inspired by Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical titled “On Care for Our Common Home,” The University of Scranton’s Sustainability Office has selected the theme “We Are All Connected” for their Spring sustainability initiative. To celebrate this theme, especially as Earth Day approaches, the Sustainability Office will host several events for students, faculty and staff as well as guests from the greater Scranton community.

Area students in grades 5-12 may participate in the University’s Earth Day Essay Contest. Submissions will be accepted through April 4. This year’s theme is “We Are All Connected.” For submission rules and details, visit: https://www.scranton.edu/sustainability/docs/earth-week-2022/earthday-2022-essay-rules.pdf.

Winners of the essay contest will be announced at the Evening of Environmental on Wednesday, April 20, in the Atrium of the Loyola Science Center on campus. The event takes place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and features interactive science experiments run by University students. The event will also include a display of the essays submitted. Finalists will receive Earth Day medals and certificates at a ceremony.

On the following day, April 21, the University will host a lecture by renowned American climatologist and geophysicist Michael Mann, Ph.D., author of “The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet.” Dr. Mann is the Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science at Pennsylvania State University, with joint appointments in the Department of Geosciences and the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute. He is also director of the Penn State Earth System Science Center. He is the author of five books on climate change, as well as more than 200 peer-reviewed and edited publications, numerous op-eds and commentaries. The lecture begins at 7:30 p.m. in the McIlhenny Ballroom of the DeNaples Center on campus.

The final Earth Day event for the month of April will be an art show address on April 25 by Laura Kern, an artist from rural Pennsylvania who uses her sculptures to emphasize the connection between humans and the environment, as well as to highlight prominent environmental and societal issues. Kern will present her address in the Heritage Room of the Weinberg Memorial Library. The event runs from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Other events open to University students, faculty and staff include an Environmental Art Show on the fifth floor of the Weinberg Memorial Library from April 19 to April 26; an Earth Day Fair in the lobby of the Loyola Science Center from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on April 19; an Environmentally-Friendly Tie-Dye event, taking place on the Dionne Campus Green at 5 p.m. on April 20; and a kayaking trip on the Susquehanna River on May 7.

Several related events also took place in March, including a screening of “The Human Element,” a film in which photographer James Balog uses his camera to document and uncover how environmental change affects the lives of Americans each day. The University also hosted a celebration of World Water Day on March 22.

All of these events are sponsored by the University’s Sustainability Office with the support of the Jesuit Center, the Kania School of Management, the Multicultural Center, the environmental studies concentration and major, the Weinberg Memorial Library and the Society for Sustainability and Conservation student organization.