The newly replanted Old Willow is one of 17,000 trees that make up the landscape of the University Park campus. For Grace Wills, president of the University’s oldest student-run environmental group, EcoAction, the replanting of the historical Old Willow is a small piece of her drive in co-leading a much larger initiative to build a sustainable future at Penn State.
Wills, a third-year student studying environmental resource management, is collaborating to advance a Sustainable Landscape Implementation Plan for the University. The plan explores strategies that can be implemented to make the current landscape — predominantly comprised of trees and lawns — more sustainable. The effort aims to support broader University objectives to increase overall campus sustainability and to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2035.
The Sustainable Landscape Implementation Plan was conceived by fellow EcoAction members, a steering committee comprised of students, faculty, landscape architectural design consultants, and Office of Physical Plant stakeholders who are responsible for the design, funding and maintenance of the campus landscape. As a first-year student and new Eco Action member in 2021, Wills played a small role in developing the proposal. She has since seen that proposal successfully receive funding from the University Park Student Fee Board’s Environmental Sustainability Fund. She became actively involved in collaborative efforts to make progress on the plan.
Now, Wills is leading the effort to advance a second proposal, which she co-wrote and submitted to the University Park Student Fee Board in March to request funding to execute phase two of the plan. That phase involves the implementation of two pilot projects that will convert select lawns at University Park into environmentally beneficial landscapes. She shared an update on the plan at the Old Willow replanting ceremony on April 19.
In this Q&A, Wills talks more about her interest in preserving the environment and her work to improve sustainability at Penn State.
Q: Why are you passionate about the environment?
Wills: The environment is important to protect because it is our natural home. Whether you are outside every day or not, everyone interacts with nature. I think it’s important to make progress in protecting and conserving what the environment provides. I feel rewarded when I can be active in my community by interacting with other individuals in ways of education and experience of environmental conservation. I want others to also appreciate and enjoy the environment that we all live in, the way that I do.
Q: Why did you choose environmental resource management as a major?
Wills: I was involved with a program called Envirothon from 4th grade through my senior year of high school. It was a big part of my life. We would work in teams and study environmental topics like forestry, wildlife and aquatics. It was my favorite activity I was involved in before college, and it made me want to pursue a career related to the environment. I ultimately want to work in environmental consulting. The environmental resource management major has offered me a wide range of learning opportunities within class curriculum to gain valuable skills, such as knowledge of Pennsylvania environmental laws, soil identification and classification, and application of Excel functions. I want to use my skills to work with professionals to conserve the environment while making progress in the ever-changing world.
Q: Why did you get involved with EcoAction?
Wills: I first learned about the organization at the Involvement Fair in my first semester, and it really sparked my interest. The group was in a transitional period and was looking for new leaders after COVID. I was able to fill a leadership role as activism coordinator in my freshman year, which was very exciting. That set me up to want to be more involved with the club, especially in facilitating volunteer opportunities and fostering connections with other organizations. EcoAction was, and continues to be, a place where I could be a leader and activist in an environmental setting with like-minded students on campus.
Q: Tell us about the partnership between EcoAction and the Office of Physical Plant (OPP).
Wills: When I first joined EcoAction two years ago, the organization submitted a proposal for the Sustainable Landscape Implementation Plan to the University Park Student Fee Board, with the support of OPP to aid in the work that would be accomplished per the proposal. It was a unique opportunity to be a part of developing the proposal, and then to see it lead to funding, progress and collaborations with OPP. We recently submitted a second proposal to continue sustainable landscapes initiatives.
Q: What have been the most impactful or important outcomes of this partnership?
Wills: There are a lot of groups on campus that are working toward environmental improvement. I think the collaboration between EcoAction and OPP is highly significant because it is a step in the right direction, it partners students with Penn State employees who are actively working in this space, and it fosters conversation about actually making change. The partnership connects environmental activists with the Penn State landscape crew, allowing opportunity for specific project goals to be accomplished through group volunteer plantings.
Q: What are sustainable landscapes, and why are they important?
Wills: Sustainable landscaping can be many different things, but I primarily look at it in two categories. The first is what is being planted in the landscape — for example, looking at increasing the number of ecological levels of native shrubs, trees and grasses instead of just one level of landscaping. It is important to focus on the benefits of the landscape, such as water filtration, increased habitat and reduced soil erosion. The other category of sustainable landscaping is landscape management, and looking at how we can use reusable and renewable resources in our efforts. For example, cutting down the number of lawns mowed on campus to decrease emissions.
On a college campus, landscaping can be intended to attract students, but big, mowed lawns and mulch beds aren’t always sustainable or the best environment for the area. Sustainable landscaping is important because it may not always be considered, but the changes are easy to implement. Even though big trees and mowed grasses are nice, maybe we can transition a mowed lawn into a native meadow where students can relax, study and interact with nature.