University students teach care for God’s creation, explain Christian perspective on environmental issues
In an effort to create awareness of global environmental issues from a Christian perspective, 12 Waynesburg University students spent an afternoon presenting to an environmental class at Trinity Christian School in Morgantown, W.Va., Tuesday, April 20.
As part of the Global Issues in Environmental Science course, Janet Paladino, assistant professor of biology at Waynesburg University, used an educational outreach method to teach both her students and the Trinity Christian School students.
Pamela Engelmann, a junior environmental science major at Waynesburg University, was among the Waynesburg University students involved with the project. As a result of her passion to care for God’s creation, Engelmann said the project was important to her.
“I want to instill in youth a responsibility to be caretakers and stewards of this Earth not because we have to, but because we want to,” she said. “I want other people to have desire, respect and awe and share the responsibility for God’s creation.”
Thirteen high school juniors and seniors learned about global issues relating to food, water, land and energy. Each session presented by the Waynesburg University group lasted 20 minutes and addressed the importance of the issue from both local and global perspectives. Topics included mountaintop removal, forms of energy, limestone filtration and the impact of livestock production on the environment.
“We wanted to relay global issues from a Christian perspective,” Paladino said. “The goal of the project was to creatively present important global initiative in a Christian high school classroom.”
Engelmann and David Myers, a junior environmental science major, offered a Christian perspective to global environmental issues to conclude the program.
“We took a comprehensive look at the Bible to discuss and explain the environment at different points in time in the text,” Myers said. “We integrated the environment with faith to show that they aren’t two different entities, but instead complement one another.”
Myers believes it is important to understand the history of the environment to examine how the environment was and how it has been affected throughout history.
Students involved in the project include:
• Tyler Amy, a senior communication (public relations) major from Corry (Corry Area High School)
• Laura Beskitt, a sophomore environmental science major from Export (Kisiki Area High School)
• Sean Dougherty, a junior environmental science major from Brookville (Brookville Area Junior-Senior High School)
• Pamela Engelmann, a junior environmental science major from Westminster, Md. (Westminster High School)
• Jeffrey Fox, a sophomore environmental science major from Waynesburg (Waynesburg Central High School)
• Eli Freese, a junior environmental science major from Wexford (Pine-Richland High School)
• Joseph Moore, a freshman environmental science major from Spraggs (Waynesburg Central High School)
• David Myers, a junior environmental science major from Cranberry Township (Seneca Valley Senior High School)
• Dorothy Rurak, a junior environmental science major from Belle Vernon (Amos Alonzo Stagg High School)
• Cain Stone, a junior environmental science major from Loysville (West Perry High School)
• Eric Wisler, a senior advertising major from East Earl (Garden Spot High School)
• Derek Zofchak, a junior environmental science major from Muse (Canon-McMillan High School)
Founded in 1849 by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Waynesburg University is located on a traditional campus in the hills of southwestern Pennsylvania, with three adult centers located in the Pittsburgh region. The University is a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) and is one of only 27 Bonner Scholar schools in the country, offering local, regional and international opportunities to touch the lives of others through service.
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Released April 22, 2010
Contact: Pam Cunningham, Assistant Director of University Relations
724.852.3384 or pcunning@waynesburg.edu