Merry Lea
October 22, 2014
Merry Lea Presents Alternative Halloween
Merry Lea’s Enchanted Forest, a Halloween activity that’s more charming than scary and that targets families with children from kindergarten to third grade, gives children the opportunity to talk to woodland animals. This event is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. The Merry Lea staff, particularly Maria Tice, who serves as the administrative assistant and volunteer coordinator at Merry Lea, is in charge. The students in the master’s program in environmental science and in the Sustainability Leadership Semester also volunteer at this event, as it occurs just feet from their homes in Reith Village and by the Kesling Barn. The...
September 10, 2014
Merry Lea Houses Sustainability Students
Off-campus sustainability semester creates opportunities for GC students. On Friday, Sept. 5, four Goshen College students (Hannah Barg, a junior; Mikhail Fernandes, a junior; Jenna Lee, a junior; and Jessie Smucker, a senior) began paddling down the Elkhart River to the St. Joe River towards Lake Michigan. As they go they will meet up with groups from different colleges, business owners, farmers and even mayors in order to learn about the local Elkhart watershed and its health. This is how the Sustainability Semester begins; actual classes do not begin until Sept. 16, after the end of the canoe trip. The...
April 2, 2014
Merry Lea Sustainability Semester Changes
The fall sustainability program at Merry Lea will arrive next year with a name. Formerly known as the Sustainability Semester in Residence, the program is now called Sustainability Leadership Semester. According to the Merry Lea website, the program has a focus in sustainable living, community engagement, health and leadership. This opportunity is only available during the fall semester because it is the only time the weather is warm enough to allow students to live in Merry Lea’s sustainable housing. During the semester, students earn 15 credits in classes such as Landscape Limnology and Faith, Ethics and Eco-justice. The semester includes...
February 5, 2014
Around the Cluck at Merry Lea
Students are maintaining Merry Lea’s new livestock barn each day in the environmental education graduate program. Students in the sustainability semester care for the chickens in the fall and graduate students care for them in the spring. During May term, the Ornithology class members have the opportunity to care for the chickens. Abbey Bradley, a 22 year-old student in the graduate program, currently cares for the chickens every morning at 8 a.m. They are currently being changed over to an organic feed so the chickens are healthier and the eggs will be a better quality. Each chicken usually lays one...
October 13, 2013
Merry Lea Makes a Splash
If you walked out of the Westlawn Dining Hall on Monday, you probably saw someone canoeing…in the fountain. This was to draw attention to the fact that the Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center is hosting a canoe trip over fall break, giving students the opportunity to canoe down the Elkhart River from Elkhart to Goshen. Starting October 18 and running through October 20, participants will have the chance to speak with a local water expert, spend the night at the Elkhart environmental center and grow closer as a group. “[It’s about] everyone getting together to get to know each other...
October 18, 2012
Merry Lea pioneers first sustainability semester
This fall, seven students are taking part in the sustainability semester at the Merry Lea Learning Center. They are the first to take part in the program. The Sustainability Semester offers students a unique way to spend a fall semester at Goshen College. The program involves living at Marry Lea’s Reith Village, a platinum-rated LEED® Facility. The students are grouped together as part of a cohort and spend the semester living and studying together. The semester is 15 credit hours and consists of four classes, with a final project at the end. The classes deal with different areas of study...
October 4, 2012
For student beekeepers, the product is sweet
Students that walk by the campus prairie patches may encounter native plants, flowers and insects. But for several students, working with insects—especially bees—is a deliberate choice. Andy Ammons, assistant professor of Biology and fondly referred to as the “bee guy” around campus, heads up a variety of bee projects. “I believe in an integrated experience,” said Ammons. “Time with both the field work and lab is important.” Josh Yoder, a junior, worked at Merry Lea over the summer doing research on bees. “I do field collection. One part looks at numbers and diversity mainly in bees. (Another looks) at the diversity...
March 17, 2011
Merry Lea to offer new sustainability semester
Imagine if you could live communally, study 1,189 acres of nature preserve, canoe down the Elkhart River and work together to explore sustainability techniques---all for academic credit. Starting in the fall of 2010, Merry Lea, Goshen College’s Environmental Learning Center, is introducing a unique semester called the Sustainability Semester in Residence that will include all of these features and more. The Sustainability Semester will run from Sep. 7 to Dec. 7 at Merry Lea. Around six to fifteen students will be enrolled and live in two of the village’s cottages. These buildings make up Indiana's first platinum-rated LEED® facility, featuring...
November 10, 2010
Grass-fed steer raised at Merry Lea
What does a Swiss steer have in common with a species of tallgrass? A steer, known as Big Blue, was fed solely on a native prairie grass for a research project this summer led by Ryan Sensenig, associate professor of Biology and Environmental Science. He was assisted by four students at Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center. The steer's name came from the species of native tallgrass, Big Blue Stem, that it was primarily fed. These grasses originally dominated the Great Plains and evolved to the Midwest climate. The main purpose of Sensenig's research was to honor the natural agricultural model...
October 27, 2010
Merry Lea’s ‘Enchanted Forest’ full of night critters
Turtles, beavers, and bears were just a few of the dozen woodland critters to lead educational nature tours for children at Merry Lea’s annual “Enchanted Forest” event last weekend, October 22nd and 23rd. These were not real animals, of course, but Goshen College students who offered their Saturday evening to dress up as forest creatures with other volunteers and teach children about Indiana’s native woodland night life. Each year the “Enchanted Forest” event is held at Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center as an alternative to Halloween for children. This eco-friendly event provides an interactive, educational hiking experience for kids aged three...
September 15, 2010
Earth as Ally conference to focus on climate change
A faith-based conference raising climate change awareness will take place on September 17-19 at Merry Lea Environmental Center at Goshen College. The Earth as Ally Conference will try to intertwine Christian faith with the issue of climate change by emphasizing hope for a better future rather than feelings of despair, hopelessness or ignorance that are often associated with climate change discussions. “[Faith] gives us the resurrection and the assurance that renewal can and does happen," said Luke Gascho, executive director of Merry Lea. " It links us to people from thousands of years ago who also faces devastation they brought...
April 8, 2010
2010 Spring Birding Challenge
Can you identify a Short-eared owl, a Long-eared owl, a Lapland longspur, a Northern Shrike, an Eastern Meadowlark, or a Golden-Crown Kiglet? These bird species are the “exciting sightings” from this past week in Merry Lea’s Spring Birding Challenge. From March 1 until May 31, Merry Lea is challenging teams of bird watchers in a competition to spot the greatest number of bird species in a 100-mile radius from Merry Lea. According to Lisa Zinn, coordinator of the event, there are 16 teams of four members (plus children in the novice groups) with over 60 participants. Each team must submit...
March 18, 2009
March 4, 2009
Earn natural academic credit: Merry Lea offers land stewardship options
Two recent Record articles explored Goshen College's decision not to accept Heifer International's donation of a nine-acre farm a few miles south of the college. Tyler Falk, a senior, in his news article "Sustainable farm unsustainable for college budget," describes the process the college went through before deciding to pass on the gift (Feb. 5 issue). Clayton Matthews, a sophomore, laments the loss of the opportunity to tend sheep and cows and grow healthy produce (Feb. 19 issue). We are delighted with the student interest in issues of food and sustainability and affirm the desire among students to engage in...