“I’m really proud that the NTU BioBlitz turned out to be such a huge success, especially because it’s an example of how everyday people like you or me can contribute to conservation causes through the power of citizen science.” -Alexis Goh
The Student Leaders’ Night is an annual affair organised by the Student Affairs Office to recognise the contributions of student organisations towards the school and the welfare of fellow students. In the 6th installation of the Student Leaders’ Night, two of Earthlink’s initiatives were shortlisted for the prestigious ‘Mr and Mrs Kwok Chin Yan Award for Student Initiative’. This annual award honours student initiatives which have made significant contributions towards enhancement of student life, the improvement of the campus environment or the betterment of the larger community in the preceding year. The initiative that clinched the award was NTU BioBlitz 2021.
Green For Good 2021 (previously known as GreenFest) was a two-week long outreach event organised by Earthlink’s Campus Outreach portfolio, to raise awareness of environmental issues and spur collective and individual action among the NTU community. This involved engaging staff and students alike through activities such as a Fashion Treasure Workshop and a Bring-Your-Own-Container (BYOC) campaign, to name a few.
On the other hand, NTU BioBlitz was NTU’s first biodiversity-monitoring programme held in NTU. In March 2021, Earthlink’s Nature Guiding portfolio conducted 23 surveys to record the fauna found on campus. This was carried out with the aim of improving human-wildlife interactions as well as to improve NTU’s policies regarding campus wildlife.
Alexis Goh, Chairperson of NTU BioDiversity Day, voiced her thoughts regarding what the award meant for the team. “I’m really proud that the NTU BioBlitz turned out to be such a huge success, especially because it’s an example of how everyday people like you or me can contribute to conservation causes through the power of citizen science.” says the environmental science undergraduate.
“This can then open up the room for more collaboration opportunities, and allow Earthlink members to be more involved in the local conservation scene” – Tay Li Si
As the fellow co-director of Earthlink’s Nature Guiding portfolio, Li Si Tay hopes that moving forward, this initiative would be a stepping stone in increasing awareness of biodiversity throughout the whole NTU community. “I hope that our efforts under the Nature Guiding committee and the upcoming NTU Biodiversity Week committee can put Earthlink NTU on the radar of the other nature groups and organisations in Singapore. This can then open up the room for more collaboration opportunities, and allow Earthlink members to be more involved in the local conservation scene.”, says Li Si regarding his aspirations for the biodiversity and conservation movement.
All in all, the exceptional work of Earthlink and it’s portfolios would not have been possible without the support of the members, the partners as well as the various participants of the activities and initiatives. Moving forward, these awards serve as a supplementary platform to pave the way for the creation and execution of more projects and campaigns aligned with Earthlink’s mission to advocate for environmentally sustainable lifestyles and to increase the NTU community’s awareness on environmental issues.