Plant Science student Scott Carrus stands with a tomato plant in the rooftop garden he helped revitalize on top of South Campus Dining Hall, September 15th, 2014.
Image Credit: Tom Hausman, The Diamondback
(Note: The following article appeared in The Diamondback on September 22)
On the roof of the South Campus Dining Hall sits a garden. It can’t be seen from ground level, and many students don’t know it exists. But for Scott Carrus, it’s a home away from home.
When Carrus transferred to this university from Pace University last spring, the junior plant science major was in search of a place to foster his love for gardening, he said.
So in March, Carrus reached out to students involved in the garden and met Allison Lilly, the sustainability and wellness coordinator who works with the garden. Carrus said meeting Lilly and these students allowed him to pursue his vision for the future of the garden.
“When I came here last year, I was interested in gardening and it wasn’t a fully functioning place,” Carrus said. “I just saw so much potential in it. There are a bunch of people working with the garden now; it’s not just me.”
The rooftop garden originally sat on top of the North Campus Dining Hall but was moved to the more spacious South Campus Dining Hall roof so more students could work at the same time, Lilly said. The garden’s existence is the result of a continued effort by students to keep it thriving, she added.
When Carrus showed interest in the garden last spring, many students who were involved were graduating, while the group of regular volunteers was dwindling. His first objective was to get more students involved.
“It’s really energizing to see somebody who is so passionate about the rooftop garden and also about reaching out to other students,” Lilly said. “It just gets everybody around him that much more engaged and enthusiastic about getting involved.”
Click here to read the rest of this article in The Diamondback.
