New leadership for the preserve was also announced at the event, which took place on site, in addition to the unveiling of a new major for students.
“This event is really more about celebrating the leadership that Dr. Keith Clay has shown in creating the IU Research and Teaching Preserve and having students out here for courses and lab work and research,” said Sarah Mincey, associate director of Integrated Program in the Environment.
Clay, who is stepping down as director of the preserve, played a key role in preserving the land that the preserve now sits on, Mincey said.
“It’s kind of a great example that all of the entities that are involved in this event are working together in a very concrete way,” she said.
Clay is a professor in the evolution, ecology and behavior program. His research area is ecology.
His research focuses on the role that microbes play in ecosystems, according to the Department of Biology.
He currently has ongoing research in four areas all within ecology.
The new degree ?announced, a Bachelor of Arts in environmental and sustainability studies, is now officially available to students.
“With the B.A. program, we have such breadth in what students can study,” she said. “There’s a concentration in food studies, for example.”
The new B.A. covers more of the social and humanity side of environmental studies, Mincey added.
“The B.A. is unique because it is awarded by both the College of Arts and Sciences as well as School of Public and Environmental Affairs,” Mincey said.
She said the preserve represents a place where students in the B.A. program can come to study.
The event, like the new leadership, represented several different organizations and schools working together, including the Integrated Program in the Environment, the Office of Sustainability and the preserve.
“The new leadership that is coming on is much more integrated and holistic,” Mincey said.
She said in the past there wasn’t enough manpower to do much more than usher in a new degree program.
“Outside of that they just haven’t had the staff or the people to do much more,” she said. “ It feels sort of like now we’re really ?ramping up.”
