Vassar’s Environmental Cooperative recently received a new grant from the City of Poughkeepsie to fund transportation for both the Outing Club and this summer’s Exploring Science program. Both programs collaborate with already-established, Poughkeepsie-based youth programs, and transportation funding is vital to ensuring access for participants from across the area.
Vassar’s 222-acre forest corridor has been inducted into the Old-Growth Forest Network, recognizing the College’s long-term commitment to conservation, ecological education, and preserving natural spaces that serve both the campus and the wider community.
Gathering around a communal table and later among the trees, Vassar celebrated Community Care Days with shared food, campus traditions, and gratitude for the 100-year-old Arboretum’s beauty and enduring place at the heart of campus life.
Vassar’s Students, faculty, and administrators interested in exploring building-level electricity consumption now have access to a powerful online platform called ICO Vision.
Celebrating the official kickoff of the 100th Anniversary of Vassar’s cherished Arboretum on Arbor Day, students, faculty, staff, and alums came together to enjoy a day of activities that included a gratitude walk, a ceremony honoring the campus grounds crew, the Class of 2027 tree planting and more.
Kenneth Foster, Director of Sustainability, received a grant from the Environmental Defense Fund’s Climate Corps fellowship program to host a summer fellow. EDF’s Climate Corps is a “hands-on summer program” where graduate students are matched with top companies and nonprofit organizations to advance climate and energy goals. Vassar has hosted multiple EDF summer fellows since 2014.
Keri VanCamp, Director of the Preserve at Vassar–in collaboration with Jen Rubbo, Director of the Environmental Cooperative; Dean Jaeger, Grounds Manager; Evan Lasher, Grounds Foreman; and Ethan Skuches, Vassar-Kenauk Conservation Fellow–was selected by the Partners for Climate Action (PCA) for an Ecological Restoration Grant supporting creative and engaging ways to support pollinators through native meadow restoration in the Hudson Valley bioregion.
Vassar Sustainability Director Kenneth Foster recently led a group of town and county officials on a tour of The Vassar Institute for the Liberal Arts to show them the building’s state-of-the-art energy conservation systems.
