A group of students at the University of Guelph wants to see action, as well as awareness, on the issues of climate change and environmental preservation.
This year, Guelph Students for Environmental Change (GSEC) aspire to engage with the greater Guelph community, to build relationships and create positive change and awareness of contemporary environmental issues.
“Our goal is to be more actively involved with community events and to further our connections,” said GSEC president Lainey Barnfield. “We have a lot of planning to do to make this happen this coming year.”
GSEC is a student-led environmental organization that campaigns and works towards action and awareness of environmental issues within the university and community by organizing, promoting and participating in environmentally focused events.
“One of our initiatives, especially being here in the Guelph area, is the Greenbelt which is of concern. We’ve done some outreach to become more involved with this issue. This is something we are very passionate about,” said the club's vice-president, Christopher Lim.
GSEC also works to raise awareness about the preservation of water.
“This is something that effects the Guelph community at-large. Many of us are involved with water activism and last year, some of our members organized a protest walk. We are very engaged on those fronts,” Lim said.
About 10-15 people attend regular GSEC in-person meetings.
“But we also have other ways that people that people can engage in the club. We have a mail list with over 100 people,” Barnfield said. “And we host a variety of events throughout the year such as trivia nights. We've had a lot of people show up to those. And we have quite a social media following too.”
GSEC looks forward to rebuilding its capacity since COVID -19.
“Lockdowns really impacted our engagement, so we are excited to come back and network. We really want to make those important connections this year,” Lim said.
GSEC will soon plan orientation week events for the start of the next school year to promote the club to new students.
“And we hope to have more guest speakers attend our meetings this year as well,” Barnfield said.
Barnfield became a GSEC member in September, during her first year of the One Health program.
“I’m really excited because it was the first year that the One Health program was launched. We study a lot of different aspects of health, including environmental health and human health,” Barnfield said. “We get to declare an area of emphasis, and so I will be doing environmental and food health specifically.”
But, Barnfield says, because environmental issues effect everyone, GSEC is very interdisciplinary and attracts students from all areas.
“This year, we had quite a few discussions and meetings about supporting the environment through a career,” Barnfield said.
“The emphasis was that careers don’t have to just be something like biology or conservation. There are a lot of ways that environmentally focused careers can be widely available, and the environment can be integrated into almost any field.”
Lim has been a GSEC member since starting his undergraduate degree.
“I’m now in my fourth year. Currently, I am the social media coordinator and this coming year I will be vice-president,” Lim said.
Lim is graduating from art history and says his areas of interest include Indigenous land and culture, specifically how they are interfaced with environmental justice.
“For me, GSEC is a place of belonging on campus, finding people who share the same values, and building relationships that last,” Lim said.
GSEC is where Lim first became exposed to the climate justice movement.
“During my time in elementary and high school, you learn about the environment and about sustainability, but GSEC is how I started learning about how this intersects with other issues such as racial justice, or social justice and housing,” Lim said. “All of these other issues are so important in our society today.”
Barnfield has always had a love for the outdoors.
“For me, its important to be part of GSEC because I really enjoy the outdoors and being outside. I really value the environment and the amazing role it plays in my life,” she said. “I want to make sure that we are all being aware of our impact and what that impact has on the environment. So, from a personal level, just my experience and exposure to the outdoors has really helped drive my passion for this.”
Barnfield says GSEC is easily accessible for students.
“It can be intimidating for some people to think that the only way to help with environmental causes is to make drastic changes and to choose a career that is focused on the environment. I think it’s great to have a cub like GSEC because it’s so accessible. And anyone can join,” Barnfield said.
Members can choose how much time they would like to commit.
"It's great to have a resource like this available, where anyone can join," Barnfield said.
“It’s important to just spread the word about the environment and get as many people involved as possible.”
For more information, follow GSEC on Instagram @uogsec, and Facebook, or email GSEC at [email protected].
