Institute for Service to the Community and Environment

In winter 2009, The University of Washington Tacoma received funding through the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation to establish a new institute dedicated to service learning and sustainability. Now only a few months old, the Institute for Service to the Community and Environment (ISCE) is off to a highly successful start, implementing the following projects:

Installing a sustainable urban Giving Garden
Setting up composting on campus
Planning 2 rain gardens
Establishing a volunteer lake monitoring program

UW Tacoma Giving Garden

On Martin Luther King Jr Day, 2009, ISCE joined Obama’s Renew America Together campaign to reclaim an overgrown patch of land for the installation of raised-bed gardens to grow fresh fruits and vegetables. Over 80 volunteers participated in this ground breaking event. All food harvested will be donated to Tacoma Rescue Mission to help provide our low-income and homeless neighbors with healthy, locally-grown food. The Giving Garden will also act as a model garden for Tacomans interested in urban gardening. Learn more about our garden...

Composting on Campus

In March 2009, several UWT academic programs began composting as part of a pilot to determine best practices for initiating a wide-scale campus composting program. Learn more about our composting program.

Rain Gardens

Rain Gardens will be installed on the UW Tacoma campus in fall 2009. These will consist of strategically planted native species to filter stormwater run-off before it flows into Thea Foss Waterway.

Wapato Lake Volunteer Monitoring Program

ISCE seeks to empower community members interested in improving Wapato Lake. Each month, our Service Learning Coordinator joins Wapato Lake volunteers to measure water clarity and collect water samples to be tested for Chlorophyll, Ammonia, Nutrients, and Plankton. Thus far, the program consists of 30 dedicated members. Learn more about our Lake Stewardship program...

ISCE wishes to acknowledge grant support provided by the following organizations:

The Green Partnership Fund, which is drawn from the Pierce Conservation District and administered by the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation. For more information, please visit www.gtcf.org or call 253-383-5622.