A surprising number of environmental science majors at EMU have something in common: they grew up in the Broadway, VA community. After graduating from Broadway High School, juniors Clay Kauffman, Lindsey White, and Micah Buckwalter and seniors Isaac Alderfer and Andrea Troyer have all decided to pursue careers in the realm of environmental science, working for the protection of an environment they have grown to love.
The town of Broadway sits about 10 minutes down the road from EMU; about 30 minutes past the town sits smaller communities like Bergton and Fulks Run that all feed into Broadway’s school system. Right next door sits a national forest and all around are jaw-dropping mountains and streams. These small communities are made up of farmers, fishers, hunters, and, generally, people that know a lot about the land on which they live.
“They’re pretty interested in what is happening in the environment,” explained Alderfer, “for some, that’s for hunting and fishing purposes. For some, they just love that lifestyle. And many are probably both.” Each of the Broadway environmental science majors recall experiencing this as they grew up.
For White, the connection in the Broadway area between land and food was always prominent. Whether working in her family’s garden, attempting to feed neighboring farms’ cows corn as a younger child, or noticing mills all around, White experienced a community that understood their reliance on an ecosystem for sustenance. “It’s really valuable,” White explains, “because we do get those deep connections to nature and understanding of what it means to grow your own food and have that available.”
Buckwalter remembers inspiring conversations on hikes through the mountains by his uncle’s house. As they walked, his uncle would point out all the passing plants or animals. Troyer and Kauffman both found their time as children at Highland Retreat in Bergton to be influential in their path to becoming interested in environmental science. Alderfer fondly remembers going on walks with his grandparents in Bergton by the creek, where his passion for bugs and birds grew; his grandparents still keep a bird count on a paper by their window.
The Broadway area, though, also holds a community that is very aware of the ways that their land is changing and in danger. The community has rallied together against flooding that destroys homes and crops. Bids for natural gas fracking, potential installment of the Atlantic Gas Pipeline, and fish kills in the North Fork of the Shenandoah River have all been issues that the community has faced together in their pocket of land that holds protected forests and rare wildlife, such as the Cow Knob Salamander.
Visual and Communication Arts Professor Steven Johnson has had the chance to engage in many of these environmental issues alongside the Broadway community. As part of Rockingham county, communities in Broadway are generally known for voting overwhelmingly conservatively, but Johnson has witnessed a process of community engagement that cuts through polarization. When it came to the natural gas fracking permit proposal, Johnson explained, “People, no matter their political persuasion, were interested in protecting their own areas, land and the beauty of the region, and they just didn’t see the cost as worth it.” The community engaged with the Atlantic Pipeline in a similar way.
Although these Broadway environmental science students may think in differing ways politically as the community they grew up in, their childhood memories stick with them as reminders of their common goals. “I don’t think that we have to make everybody think the same thing about climate change,” reflected Alderfer, “but if we can get everybody working towards a similar goal, addressing the issues that stand tallest in their lives, then that can be a really good thing.”
As proven by the influence on their career choices, EMU’s Broadway environmental science majors understand well how a deep connection to an environment is inspirational on any path to change, and the Broadway community possesses this deep connection as well.
