Our planet matters

UTRGV celebrates Earth Fest 

_{Debani Alaffa (left), an integrated health science junior, and Abigail Diaz, an art education junior, pet Palm Valley Animal Society  dogs Tuesday during Earth Fest on the Student Union Quad on the Edinburg campus. Angel Ballesteros/THE RIDER}

UTRGV’s Office for Sustainability hosted Earth Fest 2024 Tuesday in the Quad on the Edinburg campus and Wednesday at the Student Union lawn on the Brownsville campus. 

Marianella Q. Franklin, chief sustainability officer, said the office was established in 2009.

“We’re here to help institutionalize sustainability and report on how sustainable all the departments are,” Franklin said. 

She said Earth Fest is about “outreach and awareness on what is happening to our planet.” 

“Earth Fest is really important because this is where we help our students, staff, faculty and our community come together and kind of celebrate the incredible planet that we live in,” Franklin said. 

Earth Fest featured the same activities on both campuses.

On April 20, the Office of Sustainability hosted the “Vaqueros Day of Service,” where students helped with on-campus beautification projects on the Edinburg and Brownsville campuses. 

A critical safety source and emergency preparedness event took place Tuesday in Edinburg, Wednesday in Brownsville and Thursday in Harlingen. 

 John Brush, an urban ecologist from Quinta Mazatlan and Bill Green, an urban forester from the Texas A&M University Forest Service served as guides on a nature walk through the Edinburg campus. Jerald Garrett, research assistant for the School of Earth, Environmental and Marine Sciences guided the walk on the Brownsville campus.

The Office of Sustainability gave students binoculars to the first 20 participants on the nature walk, “so they can get a close-up of some of the birds and butterflies and bees on campus,” Franklin said. 

A yoga basic stretch class by Jessica Perez, a fitness instructor, took place on both campuses. 

Reese Nittler, a biology junior, said her service learning group for ecology class was giving out free native plant and wildflower seed bombs to promote pollinator growth in the Rio Grande Valley. 

Nittler said the event is “an incredible opportunity.” 

“I encourage anyone who cares about our planet to step in and save it,” she said. 

The UTRGV Police Department shared safety tips and taught students how to service their bicycles.

Luis Carlos Panqueva, executive chef from Chartwells dining services, demonstrated how to prepare spring rolls at the “Cowboy Kitchen” outside El Comedor on the Brownsville campus. 

Monica Martinez, an assistant professor for the School of Music, performed a song on the French horn on both campuses.

“She has a beautiful piece that’s done with horn and it’s called ‘The Pale Blue Dot,’” Franklin said. “This is a musical piece that comes with a video also, which is really beautiful.”

Savannah Mares, a sustainability ambassador from the College Green Captains, performed two scenes from the play called “Somewhere: A Primer for the End of Days,” a play on climate change that features butterfly characters on both campuses.  

Ana Pacheco, a communications, sciences and disorders freshman, said it is important to participate in these events. 

“I encourage other students to participate because, as a whole community, we can bring awareness about our Earth,” Pacheco said. 

Elaine Hernandez read her book “Her Butterfly Effect: When the Evergreens Blossomed Orange,” which is “a tale of hope, inspiration, and transformation,” according to the synopsis. 

The book “tells the story of a group of Mexican farm animals who rebuild their homes and farm while saving a flock of migrating monarch butterflies,” Franklin said, reading the synopsis. 

To close Earth Fest, the Edinburg Palm Valley Animal Society and the Brownsville Animal Regulation and Care Center hosted a mutt strut on the Edinburg and Brownsville campuses respectively.