Protecting our environment remains a shared community value.
Purchase College embeds sustainability into all aspects of campus operations and life by empowering students and community members to protect our shared environment.
We outline some recent highlights from this semester.
Bioswales Improve Local and Regional Water Quality
West Loop
Several years ago, we transformed the grassy area separating the West 1 parking lot from the Loop Road by constructing a large bioswale—a system that mitigates runoff by capturing, treating, and filtering surface water.through engineered soils and all-native vegetation.
The West 1 system absorbs and naturally filters more than 26,500 cubic feet of surface runoff, decreasing the volume of water and reducing pollutants such as phosphorus, nitrogen, sediments, metals and pathogens from reaching Blind Brook and ultimately the Long Island Sound.
Central 3
In recent months, we installed a second bioswale system in the grassy area surrounded by Lincoln Avenue, the Central 3 parking lot, and the Fort Awesome residence hall.
Similar to the West Loop project, native plants will grow in the the large depression in the earth to mitigate surface runoff water.
Both are living laboratories that serve as the focus of student research.
Over two days in early September, campus community members spread out into our 500 acres to see how many species could be documented in 48 hours. Events organized by Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Allyson Jackson included forest expeditions with Jackson and Assistant Professor of Biology Erika Ebbs, and Nighthawk Watch and Birding Expeditions led by Professor Emeritus Lee Schlesinger, who has returned to campus as a resident of the Broadview Senior Living Community.
Roughly 50 participants logged observations of 562 species of living things on campus using the free smartphone apps iNaturalist and eBird.
The final count showed a robust display of biodiversity. The categories of species logged include:
286 plants
131 insects
18 arachnids
8 invertebrates
1 reptile
6 mammals
3 amphibians
51 birds
58 fungi
New Signs for the Nature Preserve
Students on the Sustainability Team partnered with seniors enrolled in Community Design last spring to create original, eye-catching signs, maps, and stickers promoting the Purchase Nature Preserve.
Grant-Funded Interns at Work
Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Allyson Jackson, through a DEC grant, has a crew of interns focusing on land stewardship and native species. Learn more about their efforts.
Plastic-Free Vending Machines
Last fall, the entire campus transitioned to new vending machines, none of which offered beverages in plastic bottles. Thanks to the Sustainability Advisory and Outreach Committee (SAOC) and the Purchase College Association (PCA), who worked together to take this significant step toward achieving the goal of phasing out single-use plastic bottles on campus.
