Ella Kitchens & Shaye Phillips, Asst. News Editor & Features Editor–

As spring came into bloom, the bright weather accommodated Denison’s Earth Week. Throughout the week of April 21-25, an assortment of events were hosted by the sustainability and environmental studies (SES) department.

Additionally, Earth Day on April 22 coincided with this year’s Earth Week. Earth Day has been celebrated since it was founded by the Sen. Gaylor Nelson (D-Wisconsin) in 1970. 

“We’ve been doing Earth Week for a while, and I’d say it’s been particularly strong for Denison over the past five years or so as it’s become a central role for the ENVS/SES senior fellows,” said Abram Kaplan, director of sustainability and environmental studies and professor for environmental studies.

This year, a lecture by Adam Met, titled “A New Climate for a New Climate,” was a key event. Met is a climate activist and member of the six-time platinum band AJR. Met is also an adjunct professor at Columbia University. 

The lecture was held on April 24 in Swasey Chapel and covered shifting attitudes toward climate change, solutions for environmental issues, and ways to work with different sides of the political spectrum on environmental work. He related environmental advocacy with how musical artists engage with their fandoms.

“Met’s visit was particularly noteworthy,” said Kaplan. “I really appreciate how he bridges academic understanding of many topics with a very pragmatic, real-world, action-oriented approach that actually generates results.”

Kaplan and the SES department were looking for a keynote speaker, and Sydney Smith ‘28 was able to contact Met.

“[Met] usually goes to colleges and speaks for a class or two, but this is kind of a unique example in the way where he’s speaking to a ton of different classes,” said Smith.

In addition to his talk, which was available for all students to attend, Met visited classes in various departments as well as a lunch with students in the SES department.

“He was spectacular in his conversation with my class and I thought his Swasey talk was really insightful and inspiring,” said Kaplan.

Met began his journey in environmental advocacy when he attended New York City Lab School and became inspired by a speech Mary Robinson gave during a visit. Robinson was the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1990 to 1997. According to Met, she made an argument about the relationship between human rights advocacy and environmental advocacy and that stuck with him. 

“We are only going to be able to achieve full environmental advocacy if we protect humans in the process,” said Met. “As we move into a new renewable energy future, there are many things we’re doing that are gonna compromise different communities. We need to make sure communities are at the forefront of this change.” 

Met founded the non-profit Planet Reimagined, which focuses on renewable energy and bringing people together for climate advocacy. Led by Met, this non-profit recently had a bill introduced in the Senate that allows renewable energy such as solar and wind to be placed on top of land previously used to obtain oil and gas.

“We have a project around rivers about comparing young people and how they’re engaging around river communities around the world,” said Met.

With Planet Reimagined, Met also looks at how to get people engaged in climate work, including at concerts and sports events. Met also discussed this work during his talk in Swasey, looking at how music artists can get their fans to take climate action.

“I’m very excited about [the projects] we’re doing right now,” said Met. “But at the same time, the fan advocacy is the biggest part of it, making sure that when they’re on site, fans are actually taking part in advocacy movements.” 

“I hope he gives our students, staff and faculty, a sense for the modes of leadership all of us can take on to make a difference and to focus on areas where it matters to make a difference,” said Kaplan. 

Green Team, a student-run organization on campus focused on environmental advocacy and promoting sustainability, also played a role in Earth Week. Zandie Lawson ‘26 is a politics and public affairs and SES double major with a minor in dance who currently serves as Green Team’s Earth Week Project Lead. 

“Leading the Earth Week Team was a new experience, as it was my first time being part of Green Team exec,” Lawson said. “I felt like we had the opportunity to be very creative with our events, and that was really cool.”

The Green Team led a variety of events and activities, including a nature walk collaboration with the Hoaglin Wellness Center on April 24 and a campus cleanup on April 27. 

“Last year, through another organization, I led our first campus cleanup, which was a great intro to planning around Earth Week,” Lawson said. “This year, I wanted to go a step further and plan multiple fun events, and I knew Green Team would be an amazing space to join.” 

As Met’s visit for Earth Week drew to a close, Kaplan shared that he believed Met’s visit was a success. 

“My sense was that Adam Met really enjoyed his time at Denison and was very impressed with the many students he interacted with across the board.”  

“I love how the students were so engaged in critical thinking,” said Met. “It’s not something that you see so much across the United States anymore.”