New trees will support campus pollinators

Colleen Rich — Mon, 25 Apr 2022 13:06:08 +0000

New trees will support campus pollinators Colleen Rich Mon, 04/25/2022 - 09:06

Student volunteers plant American Persimmon trees near the Roberts House pollinator garden. Photo provided

This spring a small team of �鶹��Ƶ students used the Patriot Green Fund to enhance the diversity of the university’s Honey Bee Pollinator Garden. This garden, which sits outside of Roberts House on the �鶹��Ƶ’s Fairfax Campus, serves as a biodiverse pollinator haven for the bees currently residing nearby in one of the Honey Bee Initiative’s apiaries.

On April 8, the student volunteers assisted in planting three American Persimmon trees. The trees are the new additions to the �鶹��Ƶ Arboretum, a nationally accredited collection of trees and woody plants. Once the trees reach maturity, they will have vibrant blossoms in the spring and, with the help of the pollinators, will produce edible fruit in the fall.

The garden is supported by the Office of Sustainability’s Greenhouse and Gardens Program and Facilities Management’s Grounds Department. The trees, supplies, and coordination for this planting event were donated by Facilities Management.

From left, student volunteers Adam Radwick, Aiden Wells, Erich Miller, Derrick Wallis, Ethan Mercado, and Matthew McConnell. Bottom row from left, �鶹��Ƶ professor Andrea Weeks, Marin Hull, Allanah Brathwaite, and Subihi Setiwaldi. Photo provided

“Student and community planting events such as this are crucial to our programming here at �鶹��Ƶ, as they ensure our responsibility to provide continued education, awareness, and stewardship of our natural environment,” said Erich Miller, certified arborist and Facilities Management grounds program manager. “We hope that the skills and information passed on to the students will resonate, not only here on our campus grounds, but wherever their paths may lead.”

“Attending the planting allowed me to experience what it must have been like to plant the rest of the trees on campus that are registered within the Arboretum," said environmental science major Aiden Wells. "It was an enjoyable perspective to have, and granted me an even greater appreciation for the variety of plants we have on our campus."

Trees highlighted in the �鶹��Ƶ Arboretum are labeled with signs that include scannable barcodes to its online catalogue.

Interested community members can support future tree planting events at �鶹��Ƶ by donating or volunteering to help. Learn more by contacting arbor@gmu.edu.

Topics

Institute for a Sustainable Earth (ISE)

Dental outreach trip shows �鶹��Ƶ students how they ‘can change the world’

Colleen Rich — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 17:43:14 +0000

Dental outreach trip shows �鶹��Ƶ students how they ‘can change the world’ Colleen Rich Wed, 09/08/2021 - 13:43

The students are members of �鶹��Ƶ’s chapter of Volunteers Around the World-Dental (VAWD), a student-led organization that gives volunteers an opportunity to shadow dental professionals abroad. Photo provided

While helping provide dental services in Cusco, Peru, a group of eight �鶹��Ƶ students found they not only had an impact on the local community but also on their own lives.

“We can’t help everybody, but we have to help those who need it right now. So, I said, ‘Let me give it my all and hopefully it will change somebody’s life,’ and it did change my life a lot,” said Afua Owusuaa, a psychology major who graduated from �鶹��Ƶ in August.

The �鶹��Ƶ students assisted in taking patient vital signs and preparing instrument trays. Photo provided

The Aug. 2-18 trip was arranged through the Volunteers Around the World Global Health Alliances (VAW Global) Dental Outreach program. The students either paid for the trip themselves, used individual study-abroad scholarships, or received sponsorships. They also raised funds to pay for any medical supplies they brought with them. Students did not get academic credit for the trip.

The VAW Global staff in Peru worked with the students to coordinate the flights, host families, and itinerary, and a staff member accompanied the students for most of their trip.

“The outreach programs are great because volunteers get to learn about dental, medical, or other forms of outreach,” said Marina Ascue, the VAW Global site coordinator in Peru. “We are able to help a lot of people because of the help of the volunteers.”

The students, who attended VAW Global trainings and workshops prior to their trip, were taught by and were under the direct supervision of two licensed dentists and one nurse who accompanied them in Peru.

The students were under the direct supervision of two VAW licensed dentists and one nurse who accompanied them in Peru. Photo provided

The students helped set up a free dental clinic in a local elementary school to aid the rural community of Ccoyllorpuquio, near the city of Cusco. They assisted in taking patient vital signs and preparing instrument trays. They shadowed the dentists and passed instruments to them for cleanings, restorations, fillings, and extractions.

“We helped them with the health of their teeth and therefore the health of themselves,” said Julia Hakeem, a senior biology major.

For Hakeem, the trip confirmed her desire to work abroad, especially with children, and to use her Spanish and Arabic speaking skills to help other communities in need.

“There was a 13-year-old boy who had never brushed his teeth in his life because he didn't have a toothbrush,” she said. “Other patients just didn't know how to brush their teeth.”

In response, the students hosted an oral hygiene education day.

Hakeem’s brother, Yousif, a junior community health major and vice president of VAWD at �鶹��Ƶ, also assisted a nearby family with construction of a wall and a ramp for a school.

The trip, he said, allowed him to “realize the scope of the things that you can do and how you can actually change the world.”

The students said they also connected with the Peruvian culture through excursions to Humantay Lake, Machu Picchu, Sacred Valley, and Rainbow Mountain.

For Owusuaa, the trip encouraged her to pursue dentistry as a profession and devote two or three years to helping people abroad, she said.

Julia Hakeem said that before the students left Peru, the locals told them, “Please don’t forget our community.”

“I don’t plan on forgetting,” she said. “I plan to return one day as a doctor.”

Topics

Students

College of Health and Human Services

student organizations

service learning

College of Science