Welcome to the Zilkha Center for the Environment
Effective July 1, 2024, the Zilkha Center for Environmental Initiatives and the Center for Environmental Studies have merged to form the new Zilkha Center for the Environment, while the Environmental Studies Program continues as a stand-alone interdisciplinary academic program and serves as the home of the environmental studies curriculum and associated major and concentrations. You can read more about the changes here. Thank you for your patience as we work to update and integrate our webpages.
Zilkha Center for the Environment (ZCE) oversees campus sustainability efforts, manages Hopkins Memorial Forest in partnership with a committee of researchers and other stakeholders, offers time-honored co-curricular initiatives such as the student summer grant program, Log Lunch, and Maple Fest, and is the administrative home of the Environmental Justice Clinic.
We invite you to dive deeper into our areas of work...
Campus sustainability is everyone’s job and the Zilkha Center for the Environment supports and keeps the work moving forward and aligned with the college's broader strategic goals. We place a lot of emphasis on engaging students in this work and—through our co-curricular programs and management of the Hopkins Memorial Forest—extend the opportunities for experiential learning, applied research and community engagement beyond our campus borders.
For academic courses on environmental and sustainability issues, the environmental studies major and concentrations, and senior thesis, please contact the Environmental Studies Program.
This past Labor Day, the ZCE & Davis Center came together to host the 11th year of Root - an Ephventure program which aims to explore the intersection of social identity and environmental justice! Check out these photos from Root adventures! Thank you to all the students, staff, & Rooties for making the experience wonderful! ⭐️🌳
TONIGHT!! Class of ‘28: Join the ZCE & the Chaplains Office for a Sustainable Sorbet Social in the Class of 1966 Environmental Center kitchen. Get to meet new friends, staff, & enjoy local sorbet! 🍨🍦🍭
WELCOME TO WILLIAMS!🥳🎉 Our wonderful Root Leaders are here to welcome you during move-in!
The Zilkha Center for the Environment is looking for enthusiastic, dedicated, creative problem-solvers to help us address sustainability challenges on campus. No matter your academic interests, if you want to move sustainability forward on campus, we invite you to apply! The deadline to apply is September 12th, check out the first link in our bio for more information on compensation, positions, & working with our office! ⭐️🌱
Hey Class of ‘28, are you in need of a stylish new reusable water bottle?
The ZCE is giving away FREE water bottles and an opportunity to decorate them with personalized stickers when you pick one up, just for incoming first years! All you need to do is complete the modules in the “Sustainability @ Williams: A How-To Guide 2024” GLOW course and the final sustainability quiz with a score of >80% to receive your free water bottle!
You can pick up your water bottle at the 1966 Environmental Center on:
- Monday 8/26 from 2-4pm
- Thursday 8/29 from 9am-1pm
- Tuesday 9/3 from 12-3pm
Looking forward to seeing you!
Welcome Class of ‘28! Check out some tips to move in sustainably! See you all soon! 📦🚃🚚😄
🧑🍳Aside from their individual projects, the ZCE summer interns are also always practicing their cooking skills👩🍳
At our weekly community lunches, two interns use produce from @caretakerfarm to cook a vegetarian lunch for guests from the Williams summer community and other folks or departments they’ve worked with. Here’s a look at all of the lunches they’ve made over their internships the past two months!
🌲🚲Last Thursday the summer interns got a chance to join @pedal_people_coop in Northampton, MA! 🚲🌲
Pedal People is a Co-op that provides waste pickup for 1,100+ Northampton residents, as the city doesn’t have a municipal waste pickup program. Pedal People uses bikes to provide that waste pickup to the city. Some of our interns joined Pedal People on a pickup route, and others painted street signs and cleaned up bike paths for future use!
Learn more about Pedal People here: @pedal_people_coop
Come enjoy a sip of herbal tea made from the ZCE’s herb and tea garden at our garden interns second garden harvest event!
Garden interns will be outside the 66 center from 9 til noon this Tuesday with iced herbal tea and bags of Zilkha Blend to take home!
🌲🌊Interns channeling their inner @wocstagram while white water rafting with @zoaroutdoor 🌲🌊
Though it’s not always the first thing that comes to mind when solving sustainability issues, getting outside and experiencing the nature around us can be a great way to get folks connected to sustainability!
If you want to be a little closer to sustainability, by yourself or with others, try getting out in nature to observe, play, and enjoy the world around you! (Remember to Leave No Trace!)
🐝Have you BEEn thinking about pollinator gardens?🐝
The summer interns definitely have! They spent an afternoon helping to mulch pathways in the pollinator garden at The Spruces (only 5 minutes from campus!!) with @beefriendlywilliamstown ! As they worked, they observed butterflies, bees, and even hummingbirds in the garden. If you’d like to learn more about opportunities to help out, pollinator gardens, and pollinator protection, check out @beefriendlywilliamstown and their website!
🍃Have you foraged for ingredients?🍃
Our summer interns spent an afternoon learning to forage and cook with Dana at Sheep Hill from @williamstownrurallands !
After foraging for various plants and seeds to use in their cooking, they cheffed up some incredible food. Dock Leaf soup, cheese and chive scones, lime and pine needle cookies, and a variety of teas (raspberry, mint, black birch, and more!)
Swipe to see these yummy treats! (and the story time that came after)
🌿Our ZCE summer interns pet some chickens (and learned a ton) at the Radix Center!🌿
Located near downtown Albany, the @radixcenter is an ecological sustainability center that works to meet human needs while also restoring urban ecosystems.
Radix makes efforts to employ community members, grow and distribute locally grown food through a farm share, steward local composting systems, plant and maintain trees in Albany, and so much more! ⭐️
It was incredible to see all of the ways Radix is promoting sustainability & engaging the community around them. Thanks for having us @radixcenter !
🌳🎓 Excited to announce that Williams has received the Tree Campus official plaque and Tree Campus flag at @arbordayfoundation ‘s Tree Campus Awards!🌱💚
To be recognized as a Tree Campus, Williams has had to meet five standards set by the @arbordayfoundation :
- Establishment of a campus tree advisory committee
- Evidence of a campus tree care plan
-Verification of the plan’s dedicated annual expenditures
-Observing Arbor Day
-Creating a service-learning project aimed at engaging the student body
Thanks to the work of facilities and our landscaping ecology director, Felicity Purzycki, Williams has met all of these requirements and is committing to continue planting and maintaining the trees on campus. 🌳💚 #treecampus
🚨“Currant” Events in the ZCE gardens!🚨
Our dedicated garden & landscaping interns, Mali and Beatrice, harvested currants and hosted the entire Williams summer community at the Zilkha Center for some delicious currant-based treats!🍪 Thank you to everyone who came out to enjoy!
🌞🌿 Our summer interns had a blast visiting @soulfirefarm for their annual SOULstice celebration! 🎉✨
Soul Fire Farm is an Afro-Indigenous centered community farm dedicated to identifying and removing racism in the food system and fostering food sovereignty.🌽🍯
Interns ate amazing food, watched beautiful aerial silk performances, and enjoyed performances by @reynatropical and other talented artists from the Soul Fire community. 🌍💚
🌱 Exciting news, Williams! 🌱
Starting today, the Zilkha Center for Environmental Initiatives and the Center for Environmental Studies are merging into the new Zilkha Center for the Environment (ZCE)! With this merge, the ZCE will:
🌲 Oversee campus sustainability efforts
🌲 Collaborate on stewardship over Hopkins Memorial Forest
🌲 Continue initiatives like the student summer grant program, Log Lunch, and Maple Fest
🌲 Serve as the administrative home of the Environmental Justice Clinic
🌲 Act as home of the academic ENVI major & concentration
🌿🌎Earlier this month, Tanja Srebotnjak & Mike Evans, Zilkha Center Director & Deputy Director respectively, presented their work at the Northeast Campus Sustainability Consortium at Southern New Hampshire University.🌿🌎
Their presentation reflected on opportunities and challenges in working to decarbonize Williams` campus while looking into local carbon credit projects, all while tying in student engagement to this project. The NECSC conference aims to bring together higher education sustainability professionals for a place to network, learn from each other, and explore alternative and innovative solutions.
All are welcome to join us outside (or in if it rains!) the Zilkha Center this Wednesday from 9-12 for some delicious treats! Courtesy of our wonderful garden interns Mali and Beatrice, who will have currants and currant cookies to try! 🍪😋 See you there!
🌿🌸 In their first week, our summer interns spent an afternoon helping out and mulching pathways in @caretakerfarm ‘s herb and flower gardens! 🌱👩🌾
Since its founding in 1969, Caretaker Farm now feeds over 200 families in the Berkshire area with fresh, sustainably grown produce. Right now, they’re cultivating a diverse array of crops, from juicy tomatoes and crisp snap peas to spicy radishes. 🍅🌿🥕You can also check out the farm’s beautiful peace garden, which is full of flowers and overlooks the farmland. 🌻🌷
Caretaker Farm is located in Williamstown, on land that was historically stewarded by the Stockbridge-Munsee Community of the Mohican Nation. The farm is committed to the use of sustainable farming methods to ensure the health of this land for future generations.
The farm utilizes a CSA (community-sponsored agriculture) model, which the Zilkha Center participates in! In exchange for access to fresh seasonal produce available for pickup every week, community members purchase a membership to the farm and contribute 2hr/person of farmwork. Caretaker Farm is spread over 35 acres of land, used to grow over 175+ varieties of 40 different crops per season! On top of this, the farm rears 100 chickens (that produce around 95 eggs/day!) and 3 pigs. The farm uses compost from these animals instead of chemical fertilizers, and mulch cover to reduce pests and weed growth. 🌾🏡
Check out the Caretaker Farm instagram for more info on their operations!