NRES Spring Fest

Goals & Objectives

Our goals were to educate the public about environmental issues that the program addresses in a way for all ages to learn from. This goal is the basis of our project, as it will help our program gain more visibility in the local community while also bringing more environmental awareness to environmental topics that some attendees might not know much about. Additionally, our goal was to create a broader awareness of the NRES program in general to the public. As this is the first time our program has had a booth at Purdue’s Spring Fest, this goal was very important to prioritize as we are a smaller department that could gain a lot of exposure and interest from our booth. This could lead to more students becoming interested in the program, environmental topics, and a continued program presence at Spring Fest. This goal also tied into our goal, as mentioned in the overview of our capstone project, of providing a future framework for NRES to continue running a booth within Spring Fest. Further, through the NRES booth, we also wanted to fill a gap of environmental education at Spring Fest and inspire more people to become involved in environmental topics. This tied into our background research and literature review, as we discovered a significant underrepresentation and ineffective communication methods in environmental education of all ages. This helped us identify a lack of awareness and prioritize this goal through our booth and activities.

Community Project Partners

Dr. Christie Shee and Dr. Bijoychandra S. Takhellambam

Team Members

  • Viv Wells
  • Cassidy Clarke
  • Isabelle Wasserman
  • Sophia Petrone
  • Olivia Zaragoza

Summary 

Overall, the first NRES appearance at Spring Fest was a hit! The interactive activities, presentation of our booth, and the engagement with our audiences at Spring Fest was well received and fostered a lot of interesting conversations and informative education about our environment and the NRES program. In the future, any posters and flyers must meet Purdue branding standards to ensure professionalism, all members running the booth must be well educated on all booth activities and prepared for questions from visitors, and frequent and clear communication must be maintained between members and the NRES professor guiding the project. Our group does not have any specific concerns for those who may run the NRES booth for Spring Fest in the future, but we encourage them to be communicative, timely, well-organized, and creative! All these qualities will ensure a fun, professional, and productive time while preparing and promoting NRES at Spring Fest to a wide range of audiences. Children and adults of all ages come to enjoy Spring Fest each year and anyone running the booth must be prepared to educate any and everyone about NRES, the booth activities, and our place in the environment. Spring Fest is a time to learn about Purdue, its programs, and science, but also a time to have some fun! Keep a positive attitude, finish deliverables and activities in a timely manner, and be prepared for any kind of audience to educate on the environment and our program. Think outside the box and make science fun! Show everyone what is so special about our program and environment.

Final Report 

NRES Spring Fest