Principia College Sustainability Department

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Elsah, IL
Principia College Sustainability Department

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"To educate, promote, and inspire Principia College students, faculty and staff to become more responsible local and global environmental citizens."

11/02/2026

Why does nature matter to humanity?

Students from the Why Nature Matters FYE, led by Dr. Stephanie Lovseth recently met with Principia’s Land Stewardship Department to explore this question. The session explored the positive benefits that ecosystems directly and indirectly to humans, known as ecosystem services.

During the session our student also got to learn about our Land Stewardship program, its projects on campus and management priorities.

10/26/2026

Congratulations to Sustainability and Political Science major Rafa Ascencio Garcia who recieved the Abraham Lincoln Laureate award from the State of Illinois recognizing top graduating college seniors in Illinois for overall excellence in academics, extracurricular activities, leadership and service. Rafa received this award for his sustained leadership in student government, commitment to service, and thoughtful, inclusive approach to civic engagement. His work connecting scholarship with social impact, including his award-winning Map the System research on segregation in St. Louis and conservation work with ProCosta, demonstrated a strong commitment to addressing complex social and environmental challenges. Way to go Rafa! Principia College Center for Sustainability, Ecology and Chemistry

10/11/2026

This week, Department of Sustainability faculty traveled to conferences to share ideas, build connections, and learn from other sustainability experts.🌿

Professor Kynan Witters-Hicks and PGTI Medara Udoekong attended the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, where they attended workshops and engaged with ideas for advancing campus sustainability back at Principia. 🌎

They wrapped up their visit by exploring Baltimore’s floating wetlands and observing its benefits to the city and marine life. 🌎💚

In Washington D.C., Dr. Nicholas Johnson attended an RTOGov workshop at the Niskanen Center focused on governance of regional Transmission Organizations.

09/26/2026

Shoutout to two of our students, Alberto and Mattias! 🌍

Representing our Sustainability Club, they volunteered at the annual Mississippi River cleanup this morning in Alton

Out on the bank of the Mississippi, they ran the registration desk, welcoming fellow volunteers, and handing out t-shirts.

Proud to see our students engage with the local community and help keep our river clean!🙌

09/20/2026

The Center for Sustainability, Ecology, and Chemistry participated today in the Mississippi Earthtones festival in Alton!

09/20/2026

The Center for Sustainability, Ecology, and Chemistry participated today in the Mississippi Earthtones festival in Alton!

09/14/2026

Last weekend began with Dr. Steph Lovseth’s FYE class canoeing to a remote Missouri River island to explore why nature matters—and how it can help us thrive. We disconnected from busyness and our phones, paddled, played, explored, shared a campfire meal, and made space for quiet reflection at sunset. Coyotes, bald eagles, egrets, herons, jumping fish, incredible clouds, and meaningful community connection invited us to slow down, be present, and feel restored and connected.

09/03/2026

🌊 Social Ecology in action!

Today, students in Social Ecology with Dr. Steph Lovseth stepped beyond the classroom and into the story of the Mississippi River at the National Great Rivers Museum in Alton.

They began with The Power of the River film, then explored the museum’s exhibits through an intentional social science lens—asking not only what we know about rivers and environments, but how societies construct meaning around nature, communicate values through media and cultural systems, and shape the ways we interact with and understand the environments around us.

The river became more than a physical landscape. It became a space to think about power, culture, technology, human-environment relationships, and the stories we tell about “nature.”

05/10/2026

Students took a tour of Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage in Rutledge, MO to learn about this community based on shared values that include minimizing consumerism and their ecological impact. Besides seeing a variety of building techniques (such as straw bail construction and Earthship), the students learned about how Dancing Rabbit does community design and governance, with lots of discussion about the intentional development of subcommunities, social architecture, management of common spaces and resources, parameters for consensus-based decision making, and how community rules evolve. Thank you Daniel for the amazing tour!

05/10/2026

Here are some more photos from last weekend‘s Earth Day on campus. Our beautiful community came together to make paper and jewelry, braid hair, and have conversations about sustainability. 🌎

Address

Principia College, 1 Maybeck Place
Elsah, IL
62028

Website

https://sites.google.com/principia.edu/principiasustainability

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