The cover reads, “Environmental Stewardship: a study in how scholarship and understanding can become second nature.”

In all, the Fall 2017 issue of Stetson University Magazine – The Environment Issue – contains more than 20 pages of articles detailing, as Stetson University President Wendy B. Libby, Ph.D., described in her welcome letter, “professors, students and alumni … working hand-in-hand to help fulfill our environmental pledge.”

Professor Clay Henderson ’77, previously a well-respected environmental lawyer, serves as the “cover model.” As featured, Henderson now leads Stetson’s Institute for Water and Environmental Resilience, which teaches, researches and delivers policy options to protect natural resources across much of Florida.

In another article, Stetson’s Environmental Sustainability Fellows, four enterprising and passionate students, explain why they devote great time and energy not only talking “green,” but also taking action to make a real difference on campus and throughout the local community.

“A Harvest to Come” reveals that while Hurricane Irma ravaged nearby farmland, it failed to weaken a commitment by Stetson Dining to ensure that fresh produce arrives from farms within a 130-mile radius of campus.

Song Gao, Ph.D., an associate professor of chemistry, details the motivation behind the development of a new course centered on atmospheric chemistry and its impact on the environment, with a real-world global perspective.

Florida’s freshwater springs also are a focus – literally and figuratively – as professors and others peer below the surface on topics that range from nutrient overabundance to simple water conservation.

Notably, Stetson’s environmental pledge began in June 2007, when then-President Doug Lee became a Charter Signatory with the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, promising that Stetson would strive to become carbon neutral by 2050.

In addition, the Fall Issue chronicles the life and times (romance, war and a rapidly changing world landscape) of Stetson’s Class of 1967, while tracing the research behind a history professor’s globally acclaimed book about Nazi Germany and showcasing the climb by Stetson alumni in the name of reconstructing cleft palates for those in need.

Stetson University Magazine is published three times a year and distributed to more than 36,000 alumni, family, friends, faculty and staff.

-Michael Candelaria