Events | Featured | Arts and SciencesApril 21, 2022

UAFS Clubs Celebrate Earth Day

Written By: Samantha Contreras

In celebration of Earth Day, students, faculty, and staff from the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith will host a series of engaging, educational and “dino-mite” events.

“Earth Day is a very important day to help raise awareness for environmental issues and provides an opportunity for individuals such as myself to advocate for the geosciences,” said Cassaundra Huggins, Geology Club secretary.

The UAFS Geology Club will host two Earth Day events Friday, April 22. Students will table in the Campus Center at the first event with eager conversationalists and fun earth-day giveaways from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

At sunset, the club will host a showing of the 1993 classic film “Jurassic Park” from 8-10 p.m. at the Amphitheater. While the outdoor movie event is free, the concession stand will benefit the Geology club and their mission to spread awareness about environmental issues.

“Communication is the first step,” said Geology Club vice president-elect Peyton Karr, “Our club is very active in spreading awareness. I hope to talk to as many students as possible and help them have a better understanding of ways to protect the Earth.”

“It’s very important to take the day and just show our appreciation,” added Alex Burns, Geology Club president. “We all get so busy in our day-to-day life and forget to be thankful for everything around us. The most time we spend in the fresh air is walking to our cars after work or school, so we don’t realize just how beautiful and instrumental our natural resources are.”

“With all of our events, I just want everyone to realize the importance of the earth and its processes and remind students to be good stewards of what we have access to,” she continued.

“Students our age should be most involved in Earth Day  because I feel that our generation and our children’s generation are going to have to make very important decisions about how we care for the environment in the future,”

The UAFS Biology Club will also hold an awareness event Friday, hosting a planting station with biodegradable pots and vibrant flower seeds from 1-3 p.m. on the campus green between the Math-Science building and the Smith-Pendergraft Campus Center.

“The Biology Club supports UAFS by spreading knowledge about the ecosystem,” said Biology Club President Elizabeth Willhite. “And we take active steps to help the environment by cleaning up trash after every event we participate in around campus.”

This year, the Biology Club and Geology club have hosted and participated in more than 15 events in hopes of building community and making environmental issues accessible and relatable to their peers.

• Tags:
• Environment
• Earth Day
• Geosciences
• Biology