“Launch” is an apt word for the beginning of the Sustainability Semester in Residence (SSR), a new undergraduate program at Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College, Wolf Lake, Ind. Students begin the semester with a weeklong exploration of the Elkhart River Watershed, traveling by canoe when possible.
For veteran photographers Paul McAfee, Fort Wayne, Ind., and Dave Dornberg, Munster, Ind., a nature photography workshop is about more than just pretty pictures: it’s an opportunity to help people understand and appreciate the land they live on. Dornberg and McAfee will serve as instructors for a nature photography workshop October 11-13 at Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College, Wolf Lake, Ind.
“Learning from Long Traditions” is the theme of the Annual Autumn Hope Conference at Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College Sept. 28-30, 2012. This faith-based event is a blend of time outdoors, reflection, conversation and worship. This year’s theme will explore the relationship between people and land in diverse times and places.
Runners who appreciate grass trails instead of asphalt will enjoy the annual Turtle Trot 5-K run, Saturday, May 12, 8:30 a.m. at Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College, midway between Goshen and Fort Wayne.
Goshen College is announcing a new, unique opportunity for undergraduate students to earn a semester of college credit in a fairly unconventional way. Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College will offer (beginning in the fall of 2011) the Sustainability Semester in Residence for students to live and learn in Indiana’s first platinum-rated LEED® facility located on a 1,189-acre nature preserve. A cohort of six to 15 students will engage complex problems related to the regional watershed.
Editor’s note: Goshen College’s first three graduate students walked across the commencement stage in caps and gowns on April 26, and will complete master’s degrees in environmental education at Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College in early June. Next year, the program will triple, with a cohort of 10 beginning studies in July. […]
The close of this school year marks the retirement of two valued Goshen College faculty. Professor of Psychology Duane Kauffmann completed his 40th year of teaching. Larry Yoder will retire after working 26 years at Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College.
Northern Indiana may not have the sunniest climate or the deepest canyon in the world, but it boasts an asset many locales lack: four seasons. On Saturday, Jan. 13, from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College will launch the first of a series of hikes showcasing Indiana
“So why did they use two-by-six-inch studs instead of two-by-fours?” asks a student, prompted by the worksheet in her hand. Another student is figuring out how a ground source heat pump works, and a third has abandoned the worksheet and asks, “Where can I buy low VOC [volatile organic compounds] paint?”
A windmill spins in the breeze atop its hundred-foot tower; glycol oozes through pipes underground on its journey to and from ground source heat pump units; downspouts funnel water into a cistern for later use flushing toilets.