Earthstock, the annual Stony Brook University tradition that began in 2002 and celebrates sustainability, conservation and the environment, returns the week of April 17, culminating with the Main Festival on Friday, April 21.
The “Celebration of Earth Day” will feature a number of events across West Campus as well as at Stony Brook Southampton, with a variety of programming featuring experts, environmental organizations, live music, entertainers and other participants, all with an Earth-friendly message. Events are free and open to the public, except where noted.
“Earthstock is a great tradition that encourages our students to practice sustainability and showcase our collective commitment to living a more sustainable lifestyle,” said Assistant Vice President and Dean of Students Ric McClendon.
Returning festival favorites include Peat Moss and the Fertilizers, Teepee Ted, and the Drum Circle, along with the annual Duck Race. Food will be aplenty with FSA working hard to provide with its Farmer’s Market and food trucks.
Kellianne Ticcony, SOIL director, Undergraduate Student Government, will host a thrift store at the Coke trailer with proceeds going to CRESLI, the Coastal Research and Education Society of Long Island. Other attractions include: Smoky Roads BBQ, Freight Farm and Composting education table, Project Sunshine plant sale, Community Garden Adopt a Seed table, and vendors from the SBU Food Business Incubator at Calverton.
A second stage by the Student Activities Center (SAC) will showcase Student Life DJs and various student performer groups. Something new for this year is planting flowers around campus; organizers are working with Campus Maintenance and Operations to plant close to 100 flowers at the SAC and the Stony Brook Union.
The full Earthstock schedule includes:
Undergraduate Research Showcase
Monday, April 17, 3-4 pm
Charles B. Wang Center Theater
A poster event featuring students conducting research and other creative activities related to various aspects of the environment.
Keynote Address
Carl Safina: “What Animals Think and Feel”
Monday, April 17, 4-6 pm
Charles B. Wang Center Theater
This year’s keynote speaker is Carl Safina, inaugural holder of the Carl Safina Endowed Research Chair for Nature and Humanity in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, and president of The Safina Center.
Safina is a vocal advocate for endangered species; his book, Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel, delves deeply into the intelligence and emotional make-up of animals. Safina’s lyrical non-fiction writing explores how we are changing the natural world and what the changes mean for human and non-human beings. His books include Song for the Blue Ocean, The View From Lazy Point; A Natural Year in an Unnatural World, A Sea in Flames: The Deepwater Horizon Oil Blowout, and others. He hosted the 10-part PBS television series Saving the Ocean and contributes frequently to CNN, National Geographic, The New York Times, Audubon, The Huffington Post and others.
Audubon magazine named Safina among its “100 Notable Conservationists of the 20th Century,” and Utne Reader listed him among “25 Visionaries Changing the World” in 2011. His work has won the Lannan Literary Award, Orion Book Award, National Academies’ Science Communication Award; the John Burroughs, James Beard, and George Rabb medals; Pew and Guggenheim fellowships, and a MacArthur “genius” fellowship.
Ashley Schiff Preserve Walk
Monday, April 17 and Wednesday, April 19
1-2 pm, Ashley Schiff Preserve
The Ashley Schiff Preserve is a green gem of the Stony Brook campus, dedicated in 1970 to the memory of Dr. Schiff, a popular Political Science professor. The Preserve sits on 28.2 acres of woodland in between the area of Roth Quad/Life Sciences and the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences. Signs ask visitors to “Take Only Photos, Leave Only Footprints.”
Representatives from the Friends of Ashley Schiff Park Preserve will lead two guided tours and short hikes through this beautiful ecosystem full of vibrant wildlife and vegetation. The focus will be on the history of the preserve, identifying prominent plant species and highlighting geologic features.
Meet at the kiosk entrance to the preserve trail located just off the outer edge of Circle Road across from the Roth Quad entrance (Lake Drive). For more information about the Preserve, please visit the preserve website.
Samara Steinbock Undergraduate Honors Art Show
Opening reception: April 17, 5:30-7:30 pm
Staller Center, Room 3212
The Undergraduate Honors Art Show will be held daily from April 17-28, Mondays and Wednesdays from 9 am to 5 pm; Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 am to 3 pm; and Fridays from 2 to 6 pm.
Samara Steinbock is a fourth year double major in studio art and environmental studies with a marine science concentration at Stony Brook University. Her Honors Art Exhibition is a series of paintings and prints expressing her experience underwater while diving, with a focus on local experiences off Long Island. Her show seeks to immerse the viewer in the world beneath the waves, expressing the simultaneous wide expanse and intimacy she experiences underwater.
Main Festival
Friday, April 21, 11 am-3 pm
SAC Plaza, Academic Mall and Administration Fountain
The signature Earthstock Festival will include vendors, presenters and tables from various departments on the SAC Plaza, with the Green Pledge and other speakers taking the main stage at the Mall fountain at noon. Student performances will be held on a second stage by the SAC from 1 pm to 3 pm.
The annual Duck Race will take place at 2 pm. Reserve a duck at the Student Life suite, Union 205, between 9 am and 5 pm every day through April 19, or at the tent at the festival until they are all adopted. Cost is $3 per duck, or you may donate canned goods for the Food Pantry.
Soil Summit
Friday, April 21, 1-4 pm
Duke Lecture Hall, Stony Brook Southampton
This event at Stony Brook Southampton will feature an opening presentation by Chris Gobler, endowed chair of coastal ecology and conservation in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University, mirroring his April 4 “State of the Bays” address.
Other presenters will include Shinnecock Kelp Farmers explaining the 10,000 year local history of using kelp as fertilizer; Patty Gentry of Early Girl Farm on the flavor profile of vegetables grown with kelp added to the soil; Sue Wicks and organizers from Lazy Point Farms with an overview of six new kelp farms on the East End; the Montauk Seaweed Supply Company, New York State’s first small business to manufacture kelp and seaweed products for the public marketplace; Edwina von Gal of the Perfect Earth Project on the rapidly expanding community of local horticulturists and landscapers using locally produced kelp products to complete the full Sea to Soil circle; and closing remarks by State Assemblyman Fred Thiele.
Wetlands Legacies: An Earth Day Celebration of Robert Cushman Murphy
Saturday, April 22, 10:30 am
Dr. Erwin Ernst Marine Conservation Center, West Meadow Preserve
Explore the legacy of world-renowned naturalist and ornithologist Robert Cushman Murphy. There will be guest speakers in the marine biology, environmental and ecology fields, with interactive exhibits led by the WMHO Youth Corps.
The event is presented by the Ward Melville Heritage Organization and is open to the public. Registration is $10 per adult and $8 per child. Call (631) 751-2244.
New York Marine Rescue Center Beach Clean-Ups
Sunday, April 16 and Sunday, April 23, 10 am-noon
The New York Marine Rescue Center will host five different Beach Clean-Ups and is looking for volunteers.
Sunday, April 16: Tiana Beach in Hampton Bays, Cedar Beach in Mount Sinai and Iron Pier in Jamesport.
Sunday, April 23: FINS at Smith Point, Shirley, and Crab Meadow in Fort Salonga.
For complete and up-to-date information, visit the Earthstock website.
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