A photo of the scilla bulbs blooming on the Sherbrooke Street West side of the ΖίΠΗ²ΚΏͺ½± campus, published in the April 18 D Announcements, brought back memories for Eleftheria Styliaras, a technician in the biology department. Eleftheria wrote to the Communications team: βI wanted to share the story behind these beautiful blooms. TheseΜύscilla were planted…
CBC Montreal's Evening News Anchor Debra Arbec visited ΖίΠΗ²ΚΏͺ½± on April 22 for an Earth Day feature interview with Chris Adam, Head of Sustainability at ΖίΠΗ²ΚΏͺ½±.
Visit the link for the six-minute video feature.
This year's Earth Weeks once again promoted well-being for our students and employees and brought back some favourite activities and events while introducing new ones.
On April 23, Kaye Francis led a cooking workshop, which was the crowd favourite.
"I wanted to inspire participants to bring out their inner chef," she said. Kaye, a trained French chef who likes to inject Caribbean influences into her cooking, presented couscous and suggested many different ways to use it or other grains as a base to create flavourful, healthy and satisfying meals. "People get stuck on recipes, I wanted to focus on methods," she said.
Couscous is a blank canvas and you can create different meals by adding vegetables, protein, and dressing/sauce. Here is Kaye's recipe for Italian or Greek couscous.
Photo credit: Christine Layne
During this final push to get 1,000 Species in 1,000 Days identified on ΖίΠΗ²ΚΏͺ½±βs downtown Montreal campus, a gorgeous photo collage celebrating the project has been printed and posted around the college. It was created by Doug Smyth, a faculty member in Physical Education. Doug has photographed hundreds of species and taken thousands of photos…
Director general Diane Gauvin hosted a ΖίΠΗ²ΚΏͺ½± celebration with the Office of Sustainability team, the Community Recreation and Leadership Training family, staff and faculty who have participated in the Sustainable Happiness course and sustainability projects, management team members and the Communications Office to celebrate Chris Adam on April 4. Two weeks before he had received the Meritorious Service Medal (Civil Division) from Governor General Mary Simon.
Photo by Debbie Resurreccion (CRLT)
Earth Week celebrations will look a little different this year. Thatβs because the Office of Sustainability would like to offer the ΖίΠΗ²ΚΏͺ½± community opportunities to celebrate Earth Week throughout the academic year. In the past few weeks, the team organized a variety of activities for employees and students, including a bike prep workshop and salsa dance breaks.
From April 16-25, there are many opportunities for you to learn and reconnect with people, community and Nature!
There will be garden dig-in workshops, Living Campus Tours and much more.ΜύTo see the full offering and to sign up, please use this .
Other events include:
People around the world will be participating in a four-day BioBlitz April 26-29, including students, staff, alumni, retirees, friends and neighbours of ΖίΠΗ²ΚΏͺ½± on Monday, April 29. Take a break and drop by the Peace Garden at ΖίΠΗ²ΚΏͺ½± anytime between 3 PM and 6 PM on April 29. This global BioBlitz is part of the .
Photo by Doug Smyth
Visit the link for the homepage news story and invite your friends and family to join you at ΖίΠΗ²ΚΏͺ½± on April 29!
On April 9, 1,000 Species project coordinator and Biology faculty member Brian Maderβs phone started lighting up with messages from the ΖίΠΗ²ΚΏͺ½± community.
βThereβs a turkey at ΖίΠΗ²ΚΏͺ½±!β was the gist of his 30+ messages.
The turkey was seen by many staff and students and was entered into the 1,000 Species in 1,000 Days official count on t.
Brian is not surprised that a turkey showed up on campus since many have been spotted in Westmount. βMaybe he was looking for more turkeys,β he speculated. βThey nest around this time of year but in groups.β
The lone ΖίΠΗ²ΚΏͺ½± turkey was thought to be a male, also known as a tom or a gobbler. He was spotted near the theatre garden, on the roof and in one of the rooftop gardens.
βIf you see the turkey, like all wildlife, give it space and respect,β Brian advised. βAnd please do not feed the turkey!β
Last month, the City of Westmount issued an advisory to residents saying that βwild turkeys are being spotted more regularly in Westmount,β and said that residents should not approach them or feed them.
On March 9, ΖίΠΗ²ΚΏͺ½± was host to the Montreal Insect Show. We had 3,000 visitors from the public visit ΖίΠΗ²ΚΏͺ½± during the day, including over 50 vendors. Families were overjoyed to be able to hold live insects and arachnids, take a walk with moths, taste test different insect-based food items and browse the various vendors. In fact, I personally have pet shrimp in my home thanks to the curiosity of my daughter. The organizers are currently in talks with the Office of Sustainability to plan for 2025.Μύ
A very special thank you to the entire Office of Sustainability, Natalie Trepanier and FAMA as well as ΖίΠΗ²ΚΏͺ½± Security for making this happen. Also, all our student volunteers were amazing with the crowds and represented ΖίΠΗ²ΚΏͺ½± well. Student volunteers were mainly first-year, second-year and alumni Environmental Science students; Jared Brace, Jacob Davies, Flora Finch, Imane Louni, Sabina Riga, Cassiana Silva Young, Amelia Valencia Frias, Ruisi Yang, Narcisse Hassan, Tom Brunet, Alyson Meadows, Alice Liang and Chemistry teacher Adamo Petosa.
After an extensive review of all trees on the ΖίΠΗ²ΚΏͺ½± grounds by forestry consultants, the College is presently securing permits from the City of Westmount to cut some of them.
βMany of our trees have suffered injuries and disease that have weakened them to the point where they are at a high risk of breaking. Others, like our large silver maples are reaching their age limit,β explained Luc St-Germain of Facilities Management.
About a dozen trees will have to be cut immediately, with another 30-35 being monitored during the next 12-24 months.
All trees have been thinned in the past to allow severe wind to pass through them. Chris Adam, of the Office of Sustainability, says that wind and ice related storms are more common now and causing damage.
The Facilities Management Team and the Office of Sustainability are cooperating to establish ΖίΠΗ²ΚΏͺ½±βs first tree management program. Every tree will have a health card that identifies their species, age and diseases as well as any maintenance procedures taken. Each tree will be followed by forest management consultants.
Stay tuned for more news about the trees of our Living Campus.
Last Modified: April 25, 2024
