SUSTAINABLE TRADITIONS
The Stevenson University Native Plant Garden was completed and
dedicated on April 20, 2018 at the hillside above the Gwynns Falls.
outdoor exercise, healthy eating, and community engagement. 2013. Meredith Durmowicz, Ph.D., Dean of the Beverly K. Fine
Alex Boulton, Ph.D., retired Professor of History, was one of the School of the Sciences, explains that an Environmental Science
first champions of the Community Garden, and he collaborated program was a natural next step for SU and grew out of existing
with staff in the Office of Human Resources to realize this faculty expertise and increasing student interest in studying
project. The Greenspring Community Garden is now under ecology and the environment. Stevenson’s Environmental
the purview of Natasha Miller, Ph.D., Director of Assessment, Science major was designed to provide students with the
who recounts the pleasure that she and fellow gardeners take in opportunity to make connections across disciplines. In addition
contributing to campus beautification by growing flowers and to their science courses, students also take courses in ethics,
sharing garden produce with their families and colleagues. In social sciences, and environmental law; and they complete
years of surplus, the produce is donated to a local food bank. capstone and internship projects at sites such as Irvine Nature
Throughout the spring and summer, Stevenson’s Community Center, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and
Gardens hum with activity. Marshy Point Nature Center. Graduates of the program are
Contributing to that hum at the Owings Mills Community working for organizations including the National Oceanic and
Garden are the campus honeybees—all 150,000 of them. Joe Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Baltimore Green Space,
Matanoski, Ph.D., Professor of Biology, has kept beehives in and the National Aquarium, among others.
the Community Garden since 2013, and their residents are Environmental Science senior Gillian Nutter completed
thriving. In addition to providing crucial pollination for the her internship at Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont,
campus gardens and other green spaces, the bees are also the Ill., where she analyzed the environmental and health effects
subject of study for students who learn about animal behavior of plastics and air pollutants. Of her experience, Nutter notes,
and social insects in courses such as BIO 115: Ecology and “These projects allowed me to gain an insight into policy making
Evolution and ENV 270: Animal Behavior. The Stevenson hives and the funding of varying types of research. This summer also
are registered with the Central Maryland Beekeepers Association allowed me to research how drinking water standards and
and are regularly inspected to ensure the health of the bees. methods for cleanup of pollutants should be able to evolve as
Matanoski’s bees have even been spotted on the Owings Mills research and technologies evolve.”
section of campus. Perhaps they, too, enjoy the view as they
buzz across the Gwynns Falls.
Senior Isaac Maxwell has combined a major in Environmental
Science with a minor in History and interned at Lake Roland
With a culture marked by academic and community County Park in Baltimore County as a Park Ranger/Naturalist
engagement with sustainability and stewardship, it is Intern. He worked on several projects aimed at educating
unsurprising that Stevenson was attracting students who shared park visitors, including creating a QR Tour in which visitors
these interests. Building on the strength of the Biology program, could access tour stop information right from their phones as
the university established the Environmental Science major in they walk through the park. “Through this internship, I was
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