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Student Initiatives

Environmental Club

Established in 2008, the Environmental Club plans Earth Day activities and sponsors environmental awareness programs, such as screenings of the films "Flow," which explores the fundamental right to clean water, and "Home," which highlights the relationship we have with the biosphere.

The Environmental Club has sponsored marine mammal stranding workshops with the Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration, and some club members have been trained as first responders for stranded sea turtles, seals and whales.

On campus, the Environmental Club has organized initiatives to increase recycling, first in residence halls and on-campus apartments and more recently in the O'Hare Academic Center. In addition, the club is routinely involved in stewardship activities such as beach cleanups and fundraisers for other nonprofit environmental groups.

For more information about the Environmental Club, contact faculty adviser Dr. Jameson Chace, assistant professor of biology and biomedical sciences, at Ext. 3204.

"Green Room" Program

The "Green Room" program encourages students to reduce their carbon footprint by pledging to recycle aluminum, paper, glass and cardboard, conserve water by taking shorter showers and conserve electricity by unplugging items when not in use. Students who pledge to join the "Green Room" program are given a sticker to affix to their residence hall door.

Students should ask their Resident Assistant for more information on how to participate in the "Green Room" program.

Clean Ocean Access Water Testing

Clean Ocean Access is a local environmental group concerned with safety, cleanliness and open access to the ocean and coastlines on Aquidneck Island. Since the fall of 2006, Clean Ocean Access has tested the water quality at popular swimming locations not considered "designated swimming areas." The program's long-term goal is to establish baseline water quality standards in order to ensure permanent clean water along the Aquidneck Island shoreline.

Salve Regina students taking the special topics course Environmental Quality participate in Clean Ocean Access water testing throughout the academic year, and have expanded this sampling to the freshwater rivers that flow into the ocean. Participants in the fall 2009 course designed a sampling protocol that is being carried out by citizen scientists in the field and Salve Regina students in the lab analysis.