Konstantine Rountos, Ph.D., associate professor of biology and chair of the University’s Sustainability Committee, hosted the 8th Annual Earth Day Seminar featuring Nina Leonhardt, board member of the Long Island Pine Barrens Society (LIPBS), who presented “The Best of the Rest: A Path to Protecting Long Island’s Pine Barrens.”
The Long Island Pine Barrens encompasses more than 106,000 acres and contains a diverse range of wetland communities, unusual plants and more than 100 bird species, butterflies and moths, and threatened or endangered eastern tiger salamander, eastern mud turtle and northern harrier hawk.
With virtually all of Long Island’s drinking water being drawn from a single system of underground reservoirs, known as aquifers, the Long Island Pine Barrens overlies the source of the greatest quantity of the purest drinking water on Long Island and must be protected.
“Protected by an ecological system, open space, our aquifer and water supply, the land underneath the Pine Barrens allows for rain water to percolate through and replenish the agriculture,” said Leonhardt. “Protecting the species and their habitat is important for the habitat and our drinking water.”
In addition to the lecture, the Francis W. Antonawich Memorial Award for Environmental Stewardship, given annually to a biology major who demonstrates academic excellence and passion for the environment, was presented to SJNY student Shane Muller.
Antonawich was a student who exhibited leadership, environmental stewardship, academic integrity, and warm collegiality with classmates at St. Joseph’s. He embodied the St. Joseph’s goals and thew spirit of volunteerism and action, Dr. Rountos said.
Muller’s name will be added to a memorial plaque prominently displayed in the science wing of O’Connor Hall. Muller has served as president of the Green Team for the past two years.
He exemplifies the ethos of this award by exhibiting leadership, excellent character, and a passion for the environment, Dr. Rountos said.
