At NCC you CAN! 

By Abbey Monzo 

Home to various species of plants and a diverse student population, Northampton Community College sits atop 208 acres of land and has cultivated a strong commitment to sustainability. If you have admired the lush scenery surrounding NCC’s campus, taken a stroll through the East 40 garden or noticed birds chirping in the native sycamore trees outside Penn Hall, you may not realize that what you are looking at is more than Bethlehem’s natural beauty. You are looking at foliage planted by NCC’s very own student-led clubs and organizations, who have come together to grow something extraordinary: a sense of community. 

At the foreground of NCC’s mission to protect and enhance its natural environment lies its students. These students “planted the seeds” throughout the campus that not only contributed to the college’s natural environment but rooted eco-friendliness into student life. 

NCC sophomore, Hannah Burros, 19, president of CAN (Climate Action Network), is a longtime advocate for a greener campus. A Global Studies major, Burros is a recipient of the Kenneth Irvine Freshman Leadership Award and of the Blichar Environmental Excellence Award. 

Although she came to NCC with the intention of getting an associate’s degree and then transferring to a four-year college for International Business, Burros quickly found that all things she loves about culture are directly tied to the environment. 

Northampton Community College Climate Action Network (NCC CAN) is an active, student-led campus club focused on environmental advocacy, sustainability, education, and climate action. 

According to NCC, the organization turns students’ environmental passion into real-world impact through peer education, community organizing, and career-building workshops. 

Working alongside Dr. Forrester, the head of the global studies department and advisor of CAN, Burros leads weekly meetings held on Wednesdays at 3:30 p.m. and Thursdays at 11 a.m. This semester, CAN members are painting a mural in the environmental lounge in Penn Hall and a bus stop near the Spartan softball field. 

The mural can be found along the main stairwell in Penn Hall and will soon be decorated with images representing CAN’s experiences and projects. Design ideas from students include images inspired by bird banding and scenery that reflect efforts to preserve the city of Easton. For the bus stop mural, Burros said that the painting will soon be accompanied by native plants such as Black-eyed Susans and the Eastern Hemlock. 

Burros mentioned that CAN meetings are environmentally focused. “For example, we’ve been planting native trees and installing bird boxes/doing bird banding where we capture birds and band them, set them free, and then mark all their information,” she said.