The University of New Mexico Cornell Mall transformed into a growers’ market as dozens of local organizations, businesses, UNM departments and student groups lined the mall with booths, displaying and highlighting sustainability initiatives at the annual campus Sustainability Expo.
On Thursday, April 23, Hundreds of students passed through the expo and networked with different vendors, some leaving with plants and fresh eggs.
Freshman Avah Trujillo and sophomore Taylor Alwin said it was their first time at the expo and they both enjoyed the Lobo Garden table, which was handing out fresh herbs.
“I think it’s super cute. It’s really well organized and everyone’s been super friendly,” Alwin said.
Indigenous Institute of the Americas President Itsa-Lichii Gomez tabled near Lobo Gardens, teaching visitors about regenerative agricultural methods that Indigenous people have been using for thousands of years.
“We feel like education about different Indigenous ways of life can showcase the brilliance of, not only the history, but also the future ways of being that include everybody,” Gomez said. “So it’s really about connecting the dots and bringing as many of these people together, whether they’re Indigenous or not. We like to allow everybody to learn from us.”
Gomez said the Indigenous Institute of the Americas teaches the “Three Sisters” farming method, which has been around for generations. The Three Sisters method involves planting corn, beans and squash together so they form a symbiotic relationship in which the beans climb the corn and provide nitrogen to the soil, and the squash shades the soil.
Ana Magdalena, representing Food and Water Watch, tabled at the expo, collecting signatures for a moratorium of AI data center development in New Mexico, including Project Jupiter, the AI data center proposed for Santa Teresa.
“This is the wrong time to be constructing incredibly water-costly infrastructure that will not directly benefit the people whose water and air it’s polluting,” Magdalena said.
Project Jupiter could emit more than 14 million tons of greenhouse gases per year according to Source NM — more than the emissions of Albuquerque and Las Cruces combined.
“New Mexico is at this pivot moment where we’re either going to sell out our communities for this infrastructure build-out, or we’re going to take a stand and stop the establishment of this industry,” Magdalena said.
The UNM Accelerating Resilience Innovations Drylands Institute was one of multiple University entities tabling at the expo.
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ARID forms research teams across different departments on campus, including health sciences, to work with communities or agencies that will further the state’s “ability to be resilient” to environmental changes including rising temperatures and less water, ARID Senior Program Manager, Debbie Lee said.
Lee said one of ARID’s ongoing research projects, called “Changes,” is a collaboration between departments on Main Campus and the Health Sciences Center looking at the health impacts of extreme wildfire, including wildfire smoke inhalation and cancer risk.
“It’s really merging health data, community work and geospatial data,” Lee said. “I think there’s a lot of potential here to make the state more resilient overall. We just have to work together in communities and break out of the silos that we traditionally have operated in.”
Leila Chapa is the social media and photo editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at socialmedia@dailylobo.com or on X @lchapa06
Paloma Chapa is the multimedia editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at multimedia@dailylobo.com or on X @paloma_chapa88
Leila Chapa is the photo editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at socialmedia@dailylobo.com or on X @lchapa06
Paloma Chapa is the multimedia editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at multimedia@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @paloma_chapa88
