Regional Campus Features

Cleveland Climate Resilience and Urban Opportunity Plan 
The Kent State University Cleveland Urban Design Collective has been working with Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, the University of Buffalo, the Cleveland Office of Sustainability, and a host of local partners on an initiative to improve climate resilience in Cleveland neighborhoods. A portion of the multi-pronged project is testing the use of up to 200 empty lots for rain gardens, food gardens, community gathering places, native plants, and wetlands restoration. Other project components include helping residents reduce energy use, and working to strengthen neighborhood social connections.
CLEVELAND NEIGHBORHOOD PROGRESS

Kent State Columbiana Arboretum and Gardens
Kent State Salem is the only campus in the Kent State system to offer associate and bachelor’s degrees in horticulture studies. The campus features a well-established arboretum with more than 200 different types of trees, shrubs and cultivars, as well as hosta gardens and a Discovery Garden that teaches students to grow vegetables, which are donated to the local food pantry. Before designing the butterfly garden, Kent State students conducted soil testing and site assessments. Students then used specially selected plants that attract butterflies.

KENT STATE COLUMBIANA ARBORETUM AND GARDENS

Kent State Stark Campus Gardens 
A new course during the 2017 three-week summer intersession, Campus and Community Gardens, provided Kent State University at Stark students with the opportunity to design, plant, water, weed and harvest a campus garden. The course, taught by Chris Post, Ph.D., associate professor of geography, focused on giving students the tools, time, contacts and guidance necessary to set up a network of organizations and individuals who participated in the food’s organic production and distribution. The goal: to empower students to find better solutions to food concerns. The course may be over, but Post hired a student employee this summer to care for the garden. He says students in the class formed a club and also will help. Additionally, this fall, students in classes such as Sociology of Food will be able to help care for the garden. 

KENT STATE STARK CAMPUS GARDENS

Kent State Stark Wired Wetlands 
Kent State Stark’s 17-acre Pond & Wetland Habitat/Wildlife Study Area has a high-tech sensor network, known as the “Wired Wetlands” project. The network allows students and faculty to collect data about the environment surrounding the pond and within the pond itself and upload data to websites in real-time. Students have access to the data – and for free – as they conduct their research.

KENT STATE STARK WIRED WETLANDS