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The Dempsey Environmental Lecture Series completed its 10th year in 2011. Endowed with a gift from the Dempsey Foundation, with trustee Heather Dempsey ’97 it continues to elevate the sustainability conversation at Willamette.

The Dempsey chair, endowed in 2007, adds steady curricular weight to the lecture series’ periodic programming. As key parts of the Center for Sustainable Communities, both initiatives complement other programs that derive their funding from myriad alumni gifts and sources.

Part of the idea behind the Dempsey programs was to bolster Willamette’s national visibility. By 2010, the university had been recognized as first in the nation for sustainable activities.

Visit the Dempsey Lecture Series website.

To advance sustainability in programs and operations, Willamette University's Sustainability Institute brings together several university entities and efforts under the direction of the Sustainability Executive Committee. This restructuring, being implemented during the 2013-2014 academic year, combines the former Center for Sustainable Communities, WU Sustainability Council and the Zena Advisory Committee into a single, focused entity.

Read more about the Sustainability Institute.

Zena » Zena is 305 acres of ecologically diverse and historically significant land in the Eola Hills west of Salem. Willamette University Forest at Zena features onsite classes and research that allow students a closer look at astronomy, plant ecology, wildlife, hydrology, ecological restoration, sustainable forestry, sustainable agriculture, climate change, geology and GIS mapping.

The objective of the Science Collaborative Research Program (SCRP) is to provide selected undergraduate students the opportunity to work directly with faculty in the natural sciences on a nine-week summer research project. A stipend, food allowance, and housing expenses are provided to participating students.

Science Collaborative Research Program (SCRP) website.

Webber scholarship awards are given to juniors and/or seniors who are declared majors in biology, chemistry, environmental science, and physics. During the fall semester of their award, the scholars meet regularly to devise a twelve-week schedule of class sessions, laboratories, and projects for a classroom of students in the selected public school.

Visit Willamette Science Outreach Program (WSOP)