TREE, Teaching and Reaching Environmental Education, is an emerging organization on campus, sponsoring a trip to the “Gifts of the Earth” conference. The conference will be held at the State University of New York-New Paltz in Kingston, N.Y. Features include basket weaving, fire making, stone tools, blowguns, primitive cooking, drumming, medicinal plants, tracking and hunting implements.
The conference will be held from Nov. 1 through Nov. 3. Quinnipiac shuttle buses will provide transportation, and TREE raised most of the trip’s expenses. All of the weekend’s meals will be provided.
Although TREE has been in existence for four years, the group is still relatively new in its extent of activities. This year, the club is under a new faculty advisor, David Ives, and a new president, Frederick Rodriguez. According to Rodriguez, most of the members this year are new as well.
Because the organization is still in its developing stages, it does not currently organize many activities.
“In the past, TREE did not get much support from the community,” Rodriguez said. “We also do not have many members.”
This year, however, the club is trying to turn itself around and promote environmental awareness throughout campus.
“We do many little things,” said Rodriguez. “For instance, we put fliers in the bathroom to remind the students to conserve paper by not using too much paper towels.”
In addition to the ‘little things’ that TREE does throughout the year, they also have several big events.
Over the past few years, TREE has sponsored events to clean-up the pond on campus. To explain the work they did on the pond, brief presentations are held for the school and community after the clean-ups. This fall, the pond clean-up event will be held on Oct. 26, and the rain date is scheduled for Nov. 2.
TREE is also in the process of planning a big event on campus for Earth Day, but the activities are not yet known.
Overall, the mission of the organization is to promote environmental awareness to the Quinnipiac community. Rodriguez is on a mission of his own.
“In the past, the club has been dead,” he said. “Past members have neglected the mission statement. It’s time for new members to come in and create awareness again.”
Rodriguez said he is confident TREE will emerge this year as a well known, successful club on campus.
TREE meets once a month. Their next meeting is Oct. 24 at 3 p.m., and the location is to be announced.
For more information on the organization, contact Frederick Rodriguez by e-mail at [email protected]. For more information about “Gifts of Earth,” contact Samantha Fish, treasurer, at [email protected]