Late Night Out

Public outreach is an important part of Miner Institute’s mission. Typically, we participate in outreach through visits to local schools, Rotary and Chamber of Commerce events, farm tours and events that we host at Miner Institute for the public.  Recently, we were brought to a new stage, literally, when graduate student Emily Bourdeau took the stage at the March edition of Late Night for the Planet at Olive Ridley’s in downtown Plattsburgh.

Late Night for the Planet is a fun science-focused community engagement initiative that began in 2019 when two students from SUNY Plattsburgh’s Center for Earth and Environmental Science wanted to do something that engaged the local community and students. “They wanted to blend public education with activism and comedy,” said Dr. Curt Gervich, a professor in the Center who advises students in the program. “Our mantra is building community through education and laughter.”

Each semester, students host three or four programs at the downtown bar. Students develop a theme, identify and contact potential guests, craft interviews, create games related to the theme, host the show, and work the sound and lights during the show. Games at the agriculture-themed March show included Pictionary, Charades, and a trivia game.  Gervich helps to find guests through his professional network if needed.  The other guest at the March show was Alex Caskey from Barred Owl Brook Farm, a silvopasture farm in Westport, NY that Gervich admitted he hadn’t known about. Gervich also helps to keep the program funded – currently through a Lake Champlain Basin Program Education and Outreach Grant.

Bourdeau spoke about growing up on a dairy farm in Vermont, how we care for our cows at Miner Institute, and how the research we conduct aims to improve efficiency and profitability for farmers and health and comfort for cows.

Numerous faculty members from the Center for Earth and Environmental Science (and some of their spouses) attended the event and it was a unique opportunity for students and faculty to interact with each other and undoubtedly build stronger connections within the department.

Late Night for the Planet is neither a student club nor a course that students take for credit.  The students who participate, according to Gervich, “are just motivated people doing it from a sense of joy and service.” He is reluctant to make the program a course because he would need to award grades which he thinks would degrade creativity. “I’ve never turned a student away that shows interest, but I am cautious about the students who are involved because the project is very public,” he said. “I am really sensitive to it being a good experience for students and guests and it takes some special skills and interests to make it work.”

Later this month, SUNY Plattsburgh’s Late Night for the Planet team will be traveling to Washington D.C. to do a show at the Planet Forward Summit, an environmental media and communications conference hosted by George Washington University.

We feel honored to have been able to participate in this fun and creative experience!