Stevens students to work with WOEC

WEST ORANGE, NJ — At the February West Orange Environmental Commission meeting, held via Zoom, Councilwoman Susan McCartney explained how thrilled she is to have been asked to mentor a team of students in the Environmental Engineering Sustainability Management Program at Stevens Institute of Technology, by environmental engineering professor Dibyendu “Dibs” Sarkar.

According to Sarkar, who is founding director of the Sustainability Management Program and a West Orange resident, the students’ coursework will produce a Sustainability Management Plan for the township of West Orange.

McCartney has invited the team of students to present their conceptual plan at the West Orange Environmental Commission’s annual Earth Hour event on March 24 at the Thomas Edison National Historical Park. Earth Hour is a global movement in which180 countries and more than 7,000 cities participate in turning off lights for one hour on Saturday, March 27, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. as a concerted worldwide effort to conserve energy and take action on environmental issues to protect the planet.

McCartney has been registering the township of West Orange as an Earth Hour participating municipality since 2010. WOEC members — forester John Linson, health official Michael Fonzino, Planning Board representative Andrew Trenk, Board of Education communications coordinator Cynthia Cumming, Liberty Middle School science teacher Christina Faust, social media coordinators Cyndy Rintzler and Charles Aborisade, West Orange High School Fight for Green student Svandrifur Mura, McCartney, and Chairperson Mike Brick — will plan, schedule and video-record the guest speakers and student presentations in safe 10-minute segments for local access channels Comcast TV36 and FiOS TV45. Golda Och student Daniel Shapiro has agreed to chronicle and report on the event. 

With New York City as a registered participating Earth Hour city, one of the highlights on Saturday, March 27, at 8:30 p.m. is to watch the nonessential NYC lights dim from the many panoramic views of the city right here in West Orange. Visit http://www.EarthHour.org to learn more.

  Golda Och Academy, Liberty Middle School, Thomas Edison NHP, West Orange Environmental Commission, West Orange High School, West Orange Planning Board, West Orange School District