Earth Month
KENT STATE UNIVERSITY EARTH MONTH 2026
Our Power, Our Planet
EARTHDAY.ORG's Earth Day 2026 theme is OUR POWER, OUR PLANET". Over 1 billion participants around the world will take action on April 22nd. -EARTHDAY.ORG #EarthActionDay
Earth Month Planning Committee
The 2026 Kent State University Earth Month events were planned by the Earth Month Committee.
Earth Month Planning Committee members include representatives from: Civic and Community Engagement in the Center for Student Involvement, College of Aeronautics and Engineering, College of Architecture and Environmental Design, Department of Computer Science, Department of Earth Sciences, Earth Sciences/Sigma Gamma Epsilon, Employee Wellness, Environmental Science and Design Research Institute, Kent Interhall Council, Kent State Geological Society, KSU Recreation and Wellness Services, School of Teaching, Learning, and Curriculum Services, School for Peace and Conflict Studies, and Undergraduate Student Government.
Check back as more events are added!
Reminder: Tag events submitted to the Kent State University event calendar with "Earth Month" under "Topics" so it will populate on this page! There is a lag time from when it is submitted to approved to when it will appear on this webpage.
Kent State Earth Month History and Non- KSU events
Volunteer at Earth Fest on April 22: one hour shifts from 9:00 am through 3:00 pm through CSI's volunteer calendar.
Events
- Through April 30 - Poets for Science Gathering Call for Proposals
- March 21 - Ohio Academy of Science: Regional Science Day
- March 22 - Fake Paddy's Day Community Clean Up; CSI Civic and Community Engagement and USG
- April 3 - Department of Earth Sciences Palmer Lecture Series
- April 4 - Bedford Reservation Day Hike; Student Recreation and Wellness Center
- April 8 - College of Public Health 15th Anniversary Celebration; College of Public Health
- April 10 - Department of Earth Sciences Palmer Lecture Series
- April 10 - CUDC Program Series: Riverfront Stitch; CUDC
- April 10 - School of Art Friday Lecture; School of Art
- April 11 - Logtown Climbing Trip; Student Recreation and Wellness Center
- April 12 - Park Clean Up Service Trip; Student Recreation and Wellness Center
- April 13 - Undergraduate Research Symposium; Office of Student Research
- April 13 - 18 - Flashes Give Back Week; Division of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement
- April 14 - CAED Lecture Series; College of Architecture and Environmental Design
- April 15 - Fix-It Kent; Design Innovation Initiative
- April 17 - Embodied Shadows and Light: An Immersive Encounter with Paleolithic Cave; Design Innovation Hub
- April 17 to 19- Laurel Highlands Backpacking Trip; Student Recreation and Wellness Center
- April 22 to October 26 - Fashion & Feather: A collaboration between Kent State University and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History
- April 22 - Earth Fest; Earth Month Planning Committee and Office of Sustainability
- April 22 - ESDRI Research Showcase; ESDRI
- April 22 - Kent State Haymaker Farmers' Market; Kent State of Well-being
- April 22 - FAB's Day in Paradise
- April 22 - Electric Vehicle Showcase
- April 24 - Kent State University Arbor Day Celebration
- April 24 to April 26 - Ohiopyle Camping and Climbing Trip; Student Recreation and Wellness Center
- April 25 - Cuyahoga River Kayak Trip; Student Recreation and Wellness Center
- April 26 - Cuyahoga River Kayak Trip; Student Recreation and Wellness Center
- April 28 - Environmental Studies Senior Project Presentations; Department of Geography
- April 29- Full Moon Kayak Trip; Student Recreation and Wellness Center
- May 1 to 3 - WV Whitewater Rafting and Camping Trip; Student Recreation and Wellness Center
- May 3 - National Ride a Bike Event: May 4 Riding Tour
Department of Earth Sciences Palmer Lecture Series
The Palmer Earth Sciences Lecture Series is made possible by an endowment from Dr. and Mrs. Donald and Anne Palmer. Dr. Palmer is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Earth Sciences and former Chair of the Department of Geology and Dean of the Honors College. This endowment supports a visiting lecture series dedicated to major issues and advances in Geology/Earth Sciences and Environmental Science.
The Department of Earth Sciences welcomes guest speakers on Fridays in room 234 at 12:00 p.m. (unless otherwise noted).
Bedford Reservation Day Hike Trip
- Kent
Join us on a fun day hike around the Bedford Reservation!
- Location: Bedford Reservation
- Cost: $10
*All programs require a minimum participant number to run. Pre-registration is required for all programs. Contact adventurecenter@kent.edu with any questions, unless otherwise noted in the program description.
College of Public Health 15th Anniversary Celebration
- Kent
Join Kent State's College of Public Health as we celebrate 15 years of providing outstanding public health education to our students and making an impact on our community. Alumni, students, faculty and friends are encouraged to attend this special event that includes a reception with a cash bar and formal program.
Wednesday, April 8 | 5-7 p.m.
Kent Student Center Ballroom
1075 Risman Dr., Kent, OH 44242
Cost: $30 General Admission | $15 Students
Proceeds from this event will benefit the College of Public Health Scholarship Fund. Student sponsorships are also available to cover the cost for students to attend.
As part of the celebration, the college is also hosting a Research, Teaching and Community Showcase from 3-5 p.m. in the student center's second floor lobby.
Business casual attire is recommended.
Department of Earth Sciences Palmer Lecture Series
The Palmer Earth Sciences Lecture Series is made possible by an endowment from Dr. and Mrs. Donald and Anne Palmer. Dr. Palmer is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Earth Sciences and former Chair of the Department of Geology and Dean of the Honors College. This endowment supports a visiting lecture series dedicated to major issues and advances in Geology/Earth Sciences and Environmental Science.
The Department of Earth Sciences welcomes guest speakers on Fridays in room 234 at 12:00 p.m. (unless otherwise noted).
CUDC Program Series: Riverfront Stitch
- Kent
Join the College of Architecture and Environmental Design for the Spring 2026 CUDC Program Series for a talk and panel with Morgan Mackey and discussants Cat Marshall, Anna Enderle and David Craun followed by MLA students workshop.
School of Art Friday Lecture: Susie Ganch
- Kent
A Consideration of materials: their past, present and future
Susie Ganch will talk about recent projects from both her independent studio practice and collaborative project, Radical Jewelery Makeover.
Image: Landscape #5: Pixel, image credit: Reagan West-Whitman
Logtown Climbing Trip
- Kent
With a mix of different climbing types, there is a little something for everyone. This trip is great for all experience levels, from beginner to experienced climbers.
- Location: Logtown, OH
- Cost: Student $40, Non-Student $45
*All programs require a minimum participant number to run. Pre-registration is required for all programs. Contact adventurecenter@kent.edu with any questions, unless otherwise noted in the program description.
Park Clean Up Service Trip
- Kent
Join us in a volunteer event cleaning up trails at a local park as a way to give back to nature!
- Cost: $0
*All programs require a minimum participant number to run. Pre-registration is required for all programs. Contact adventurecenter@kent.edu with any questions, unless otherwise noted in the program description.
Undergraduate Research Symposium April 18 Office of Student Research
The Undergraduate Symposium for Research, Scholarship and Creative Endeavors provides an opportunity for undergraduate students and recent graduates to showcase their hands-on involvement in research and creative endeavors. We encourage students to share either their completed or ongoing work. Students from all majors on all of Kent State’s campuses are encouraged to submit their work – from creative dance pieces to scientific research. Students can present their work through posters, oral presentations, or any creative medium.
Flashes Give Back Week April 13-18 Various Locations
Flashes Give Back Week is April 13-18, This year's theme is Champions of Kindness.
We all have a chance to be the hero of someone's story and there are multiple ways to participate in Flashes Give Back Week.
Volunteer All Week
Join in as a Compassionate Samaritan Volunteer at Kent State or in your local community throughout the week.
CAED Lecture Series: Antoine Picon
- Kent
Join the College of Architecture and Environmental Design for the Spring 2026 Lecture Series as Antoine Picon presents “Architecture and the Dream of the Machine: From Renaissance Proportion to Artificial Intelligence." An engineer, architect, and historian, Antoine Picon is the G. Ware Travelstead Professor of the History of Architecture and Technology at Harvard Graduate School of Design. A member of the French Academy of Technology and the French Academy of Architecture. He works on the history of the relations between architecture, cities, and technologies. He has published extensively on this subject. He is amongst others the author of Digital Culture in Architecture (2010), Ornament: The Politics of Architecture and Subjectivity (2013), Smart Cities: A Spatialized Intelligence (2015), and The Materiality of Architecture (2021).
Fix-It Kent April 15 4-7pm Design Innovation DI Hub Reactor Room 150
Join us for our Fix-It Kent Community Repair Workshop!
Got something broken? Don’t toss it—fix it! Join DI for Fix-It Kent, a hands-on repair workshop where experienced coaches will help you repair your everyday objects, saving you money and keeping waste out of landfills.
Save the Date: Wednesday, April 15 from 4-7 PM
This free community event is open to anyone looking to fix household items, electronics, clothing, small appliances, and more. Whether you're tackling a wobbly chair, a torn jacket, or a gadget that’s stopped working, our volunteer repair experts will guide you through the process.
Give your bicycle or scooter a tune-up or repair! Repair coaches from SPIN will be on hand to help with bicycle and scooter repair and maintenance! Kent State University RecWell Adventure Center, the Office of Sustainability, and the City of Kent Sustainability will be sharing information about bicycling including: SPIN, PARTA bus racks, bicycle maps, bike stickers, DERO bike fix-it station, and more!
Fixing together builds community—join us and be part of the solution!
Fix-It Kent is hosted by the KSU Design Innovation (DI) Initiative in partnership with Fix-It CLE, a program from Circular Cleveland, an initiative of Cleveland Neighborhood Progress and the City of Cleveland, in collaboration with Neighborhood Connections.
Embodied Shadows and Light: An Immersive Encounter with Paleolithic Cave Art Lecture
- Kent
An Elliot DI Faculty Fellows Series Event with Michelle Bebber
Step back 30,000 years and enter the world of Paleolithic cave art through a groundbreaking immersive experience. This exhibit fuses archaeology, digital media, art, and design thinking to transport visitors beyond static displays into a living, sensory-rich environment. Using cutting-edge projection, you’ll feel the scale, atmosphere, and creative energy of early human life as never before, blurring the line between past and present, science and art.
Join Dr. Michelle Bebber for a special lecture that will dive deeper into the archaeology and cultural significance of Paleolithic cave art, and the evolution of human aesthetic experience. She will be available for more conversation outside of the exhibit following the lecture.
Laurel Highlands Backpacking Trip
- Kent
Come join us on a spring overnight backpacking trip on Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail in Pennsylvania. We will be hiking around 20 miles, spending 2 nights camping and hiking anywhere from 5-10 miles a day with 35 or more pounds on our backs.
- Location: Laurel Highlands, PA
- Cost: $95
*All programs require a minimum participant number to run. Pre-registration is required for all programs. Contact adventurecenter@kent.edu with any questions, unless otherwise noted in the program description.
Fashion & Feather: A Collaboration between Kent State University and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History
- Kent
Please join us for a special exhibition celebrating fashion history and the natural world. Fashion & Feather is a unique cross-disciplinary collaboration between the Kent State University Museum, the Kent State School of Fashion Design & Merchandising, and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. The exhibition showcases the beauty and complexity of feathers through historical garments, ornithological specimens, cultural objects, and student designs, exploring how design is inspired by the natural world.
Earth Fest
- Kent
Join on and off campus organizations and departments for a fun-filled Earth Day event with music, student activities, information, giveaways, and more from 11am-2pm on Risman Plaza! (Rain location 2nd Floor Student Center)
Organizations
- Adventure Center
- Biology Club
- The Brewer-Garrett Company
- Career Exploration and Development
- Chefology
- City of Kent Sustainability
- College of Aeronautics and Engineering
- County Clothing Center
- Environmental Education Council of Ohio (EECO)
- EVA of Ohio - Greater Cleveland Team
- Flashes Fighting Hunger
- Habitat for Humanity of Portage County-Restore
- The Herrick Conservatory
- Jewelry, Metals, and Enameling Co-Op
- Kent Environmental Council
- Kent Interhall Council
- Kent Parks & Recreation
- Kent State Ceramics Club
- Kent State of Well-being
- Kent State School of Teaching, Learning, and Curriculum Studies in the College of Education, Health, and Human Services
- Kent State University Child Development Center
- Kent State University Office of Sustainability
- KSU Environmental Science and Design Research Institute
- KSU Foraging
- Learning, Engagement and Belonging
- Native Plant Society of Northeastern Ohio
- The Nature Conservancy
- NOPEC
- ODNR Division of Natural Areas and Preserves
- Ohio Academy of Sciences
- Ohio Division of Wildlife
- Ohio EPA
- Ohio Student Association
- PARTA
- Portage County Solid Waste
- Portage Park District
- PRIDE!Kent
- Rural Action
- School of Art
- Sigma Gamma Epsilon
- Society for Ecological Restoration Student Association at Kent State University
- Spin
- SRVSS
- The Student RecWell Council
- Summit Metro Parks
- Uncommon Threads Company
- Undergraduate Student Government Sustainability Committee
- Wick Poetry Center
ESDRI Research Showcase
- Kent
The Annual Environmental Science and Design Research Institute Research Showcase features posters from researchers examining many facets of environmental science and design. Join us by presenting a poster or viewing the showcased work!
Abstract submissions are open until April 1st. More information and link to submit an abstract can be found at kent.edu/esdri/esdri-research-showcase
Electric Vehicle Showcase
- Kent
Celebrate sustainability and innovation at Kent State's Electric Vehicle Showcase, part of Earth Day festivities. Explore a variety of electric vehicles, meet local EV owners, and learn about clean transportation, charging, and real-world driving experiences—all in a fun, community-focused setting.
Ohiopyle Camping & Climbing Trip
- Kent
Come join the Adventure Center on an overnight trip to Ohiopye State Park in Pennsylvania. With 80-foot rock faces, beautiful hiking trails, a fun outdoorsy town, natural water slides, and more, this will be an amazing way to spend your weekend!-
- Location: Ohiopyle, PA
- Cost: $105
*All programs require a minimum participant number to run. Pre-registration is required for all programs. Contact adventurecenter@kent.edu with any questions, unless otherwise noted in the program description.
Cuyahoga River Kayak Trip
- Kent
This trip will be held locally on the Cuyahoga River. The trip is 4.0 miles long, is beginner-friendly, and no prior experience is needed.
- Location: Cuyahoga River
- Cost: Student $30, Non-Student $35
*All programs require a minimum participant number to run. Pre-registration is required for all programs. Contact adventurecenter@kent.edu with any questions, unless otherwise noted in the program description.
Cuyahoga River Kayak Trip
- Kent
This trip will be held locally on the Cuyahoga River. The trip is 4.0 miles long, is beginner-friendly, and no prior experience is needed.
- Location: Cuyahoga River
- Cost: Student $30, Non-Student $35
*All programs require a minimum participant number to run. Pre-registration is required for all programs. Contact adventurecenter@kent.edu with any questions, unless otherwise noted in the program description.
ENVS Senior Project Presentations
- Kent
Environmental Studies majors will present their projects to their classes and the Geography Department on April 28 and 23 in 403 McGilvrey. Students will stand next to monitors displaying a digital poster of their work and will answer any visitor questions.
Full Moon Float Kayak Trip
- Kent
Here’s your chance to enjoy a beautiful sunset, relax in nature, and let your worries drift into the night as we paddle into the sunset on a peaceful and serene lake right down the road from Kent.
- Location: Wingfoot Lake
- Cost: Student $35, Non-Student $40
*All programs require a minimum participant number to run. Pre-registration is required for all programs. Contact adventurecenter@kent.edu with any questions, unless otherwise noted in the program description.
WV Whitewater Rafting & Camping Trip
- Kent
This multi-day trip with whitewater rafting will take you to the stunning New River Gorge in West Virginia. Over the course of several days, participants will paddle through world-class rapids with professional guides, explore the breathtaking landscape of America’s newest national park, and relax in comfortable group lodging.
- Location: New River Gorge, WV
- Cost: $300
National Ride a Bike Day Event: May 4 Riding Tour
- Kent
Let's celebrate National Ride A Bike Day! On this tour we'll explore Kent's Campus and Downtown area on eBikes and learn more about May 4 landmarks and events. Enjoy the benefits of cycling while learning local history.
We'll first meet at the May 4 Visitors Center in Taylor Hall at 1:00 pm for a guided tour of the galleries, then hop on bikes (either your own or a free SPIN eBike rental) to explore multiple May 4 locations with a guide. The bike tour will stop at Capybara Coffee for discounted snack options, then will conclude back at Taylor Hall at 3:00 pm.
This event is a partnership between the KSU RecWell Adventure Center, Office of Sustainability, May 4 Visitor Center, the City of Kent, and SPIN. EBikes are provided by SPIN, but participants can bring their own bikes if able.
Registration is free, but required. See the link below. Spots are limited.
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April 22 Earth Day Bash
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