On Feb. 27, students gathered in the biology lab on St. Joseph’s University, New York’s Long Island campus for a winter sowing event hosted by the University’s Go Green and Biology clubs. The event brought together approximately 40 students interested in social responsibility and environmental work, the former being a pillar on which SJNY was founded. Also in attendance were several students from the University’s Brooklyn campus.
The winter sowing event centered on planting native perennial pollinator species, which will later be placed in the Shea Gardens behind O’Connor Hall this spring. Students worked together to create small planters using repurposed plastic bottles, which were carefully prepped with soil, seeds and water to begin the growing process.
Computer Science, Mathematics and Business Administration student, and president of the Go Green Club Jawad Zaman ‘27 shared how the event was an amazing opportunity for the clubs, stating “how meeting other environmental enthusiasts opened their eyes to planting possibilities.”
“It was a wonderful way to bring together students from two campuses located 50 miles apart”, Zaman said.
By the end of this event, students had created around 70 new planters ready to support pollinators in the Shea gardens.As president of the Go Green Club, Zaman is now planning a future sowing event on the Brooklyn campus for April 16 in Demeter’s Garden. The courtyard space, which is located between Tuohy and Burns Hall, was created and supported by the University’s Sustainability Committee over the past two years. Many of the seeds and planters from the Patchogue event were brought to the Brooklyn campus as students continued the planting process during common hour.
“The courtyard has been a major project for the last two years, and we are very proud of how it has turned out. We want to continue making it an even more welcoming environment,” Zaman said.
He hopes that sowing events in the future will continue to give students from both campuses a chance to collaborate with the goal of environmental sustainability.
