Penn State Berks to host Earth Day event, tree planting, City Nature Challenge

WYOMISSING, Pa. — Spring has sprung at Penn State Berks, and the college’s Sustainability Council will host its annual Earth Day celebration from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, April 21, outside the Perkins Student Center, with a rain location in the Beaver Athletics and Wellness Center Auxiliary Gym. The celebration will include community organizations, activities, educational presentations and stations, giveaways, prizes and light refreshments.

Later that week, the Sustainability Council will plant trees donated by PepsiCo between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Wednesday, April 23, in the student commuter parking lot. Then, Penn State Berks will host an event with Berks County's Parks and Recreation Department as part of the City Nature Challenge (CNC) from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 27. All events are free and open to the community.

Earth Day bring the campus and community together

Both the Earth Day event and the tree planting event are organized by Sustainability Council chair Mahsa Kazempour, associate professor of science education. She explained, “Events such as our annual Earth Day celebration are critical in raising awareness about important local and global issues, as well as ways that everyone can take steps and commit to sustainable actions.”

“Another goal of Earth Day and similar events is to bring the campus and the community together to engage in discussions; share ideas, projects, and initiatives; network; build collaborative partnerships, and more.”

Local and national organizations will attend the Earth Day celebration, including PepsiCo, Berks Nature, Berks Climate Action, Blue Marsh Lake, League of Women Voters of Berks County, Commute PA, Hooftales and more. These stations will educate visitors on sustainability, proper gardening practices, and wildlife protection, and some will offer hands-on learning activities, such as making planters.

Earth Day also will offer presentations featuring 20 of the college’s Environmental Awareness and Community Action Projects (EACAP). These projects are conducted by students in Kazempour’s BiSC3 environmental science class, taught by Kazempour since 2011. Students were tasked with researching local, national and global environmental issues, and engaging in community-based projects to address sustainability issues in the Berks County area. For more information about the spring 2025 semester EACAP projects, visit the EACAP website.

One of the educational stations will feature planting vegetable seeds into the campus garden. This station will be facilitated by Jayne Park-Martinez, assistant teaching professor of science.

“We will also give away Columbine, a type of native plant that flowers in the spring. I'm looking forward to helping our community connect with nature,” she said.

Another attraction will be the college’s Sustainable Swap Station, where community members can drop off items that they no longer need and find new treasures. Items will include clothing, jewelry, accessories, home and office décor, kitchen and household items, books, toys and games.

Clubs and programs at the college will also participate in the event with their own stations and activities. Some of the clubs that will be present are the Asian Culture Club, Knots of Kindness, National Alliance on Mental Illness - Penn State Berks chapter and the Psychology Club, and they will be joined by the Alternative Spring Break program, Common Reading program, Thun Library and more.

Tree Planting for Personal and Environmental Health

On April 23, as part of the larger campus Mental Health Fair, the Sustainability Council will hold an event titled “Tree Planting foe Personal Health and Environmental Health,” where students will plant more than 40 trees donated by PepsiCo around the G5 student commuter parking lot. This event will teach attendees how to plant and protect seedling trees and how sustainable landscaping works at the college. These trees will increase food and habitat for wildlife and increase carbon sequestration, while decreasing carbon emissions. Light refreshments will be provided for those who attend.

College joins City Nature Challenge

Penn State Berks will join City Nature Challenge (CNC) – Berks. The college will partner with Berks County's Parks and Recreation Department on from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 27. Attendees will meet in the Luerssen Science Building, Room 4. This initiative at Penn State Berks is led by Bryan Wang, teaching professor of biology, who explained that this is the first year that Berks County will participate in the CNC.

CNC is a four-day annual global bioblitz that motivates people around the world to engage with their environment. It started in 2016 as a competition between Los Angeles and San Francisco and quickly gained international support from more than 800 communities. The event will take place April 25-28 and participants are asked to download the iNaturalist app and go outside and take pictures of plants, animals and fungi using the app, which will in turn teach the user about what they log. Any pictures taken during the four-day event will count toward the challenge. For more information on the City Nature Challenge and to sign up for CNC programs, visit citynaturechallenge.org.

Berks celebrates long history of sustainability

These events are part of the college’s commitment to sustainability. On March 26, the Sustainability Council held an event celebrating the past 10 years of the college’s sustainability efforts.

Kazempour, Park-Martinez and Wang gave a presentation on the many initiatives, programs and events focused on sustainability at the college. Kazempour discussed the Sustainability Council successes and challenges, community connections and engagement opportunities, and the campus garden. Park-Martinez covered the campus Sustainable Landscape Implementation Plan, discussing the introduction of native meadows into the college’s design. Wang shared his story on how he found himself connected with nature and introduced the upcoming City Nature Challenge event.

For more information on any of these events, contact Kazempour at MUK30@psu.edu.