Earthstock Street Fair Showcases Environmental Engagement

The annual Earthstock Street Fair brought together students, faculty, staff and local organizations at Stony Brook University for a shared purpose, to explore environmental challenges and discover ways they can contribute toward sustainability efforts.

The April 24 event on the SAC Plaza and Academic Mall featured a variety of tables staffed by student groups, campus departments and environmental organization. Some offered guidance on reducing waste or conserving energy, while others offered information and invited conversations surrounding climate policy, research and advocacy.

"Earthstock is so much more than just a single day," said Aneil Persaud, assistant director of Student Affairs events and initiatives and the Student Affairs chair for Earthstock. Reflecting on his own experience with the event as a Stony Brook student, he remembered walking into the fair and being "so enamored" by the energy and sense of connection.

"I'm so grateful to be in this position, to be able to lead and to grow our annual spring tradition," Persaud said, noting the full week of lectures, panels and presentations that led up to the fair.

Attendees recycled cans in exchange for T-shirts, explored exhibits on clean energy and spoke with students about sustainability initiatives happening on and off-campus.

Members of student group Project Sunshine connected environmental engagement with community care. The group sold donated plants to raise funds for pediatric patients at Stony Brook Hospital.

"Project Sunshine is a chapter of a national nonprofit organization," said Emma Pak, external vice president for the group and a senior majoring in biology and applied mathematics and statistics. "Our specific branch works with the Stony Brook Children's Hospital. We serve as volunteers, both in person and through teleplay, and also create kits for play."

The plant sale, explained Sarah Chen, a sophomore majoring in biology and applied math and statistics and incoming treasurer for the group, has become one of the organization's most successful fundraisers, made possible by a local donor who contributes homegrown plants each year.

"We're here raising money and awareness for children in the hospital," Chen said. "That's our biggest point, our biggest goal with this organization."

Later in the afternoon, a crowd gathered along the Brook for the duck race, one of the day's most anticipated traditions, as hundreds of rubber ducks floated toward the finish.

Earthstock also spotlighted the next generation of environmental leaders, reinforcing a message that would echo later in the program. The Ashley Schiff Preserve Scholarship was awarded to junior psychology major Jasmine Mason-Rudolph. Marking the 20th anniversary of the Jeffrey Eng Memorial Scholarship, created to honor a Stony Brook student's legacy, this year's Environmental Studies recipients are Geneva Bhagroo and Faith Adeniyi, students already helping to shape a more sustainable future.

"Climate change rages on, accelerating, in fact," said Paul Shepson, dean of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences. But he urged the audience to focus on what can be done. "Be the leader who takes us forward, not backward. Be the change that leads to new strides in terrestrial and in marine conservation."

He pointed to the role students play in driving innovation and progress. "Be proud to be at a university that is constantly searching for and creating knowledge… almost entirely by our students, the people who do the real work," he said.

New York State Assemblywoman Rebecca Kassay echoed this sentiment and encouraged students to become involved beyond campus.

"Make sure you reach out, make your voices heard, because at the end of the day, we are representatives and we're representing you," Kassay said. "When I look around and I see all of these students and all the faculty and everyone out here saying that Earth Day is every day, that's something that I can go and represent up in Albany."

She emphasized that environmental sustainability requires both individual action and policy-level change. "We want to proactively save this planet," she said, "making sure that we have the future of energy and energy independence here in the state of New York."

- Beth Squire