Facilities

• Keene State College Science Center
• Center for Environmental BioGeoChemistry
• Geography Department Geographic Information Systems Laboratory
• Green House and Herbarium
• Arboretum and Gardens
• Ground Water Monitoring Wells
• Weather Station
• Field Equipment for surveying, mapping, measuring water levels and stream currents, environmental data logging, sampling and analyzing waters and wells, etcetera...

Other Related Academic Resources

• Mason Library
• Community Research Center
• Service Learning, Center for Engagement, Learning and Teaching
• Academic Enrichment Programs
• Ashuelot River Flow Mural by Nancy Selvage

Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability
at Keene State College and in the City of Keene

• Sustainability at Keene State College: Goals and Mission, Initiatives, and Related Programs
• KSC is committed to a Climate Neutral campus
• LEED Green Building Certification for the Pondside III Residence Hall
• Monadnock Biodiesel Collaborative
• Asheulot Valley Environmental Observatory
• Cities for Climate Protection
• City of Keene Recycling and Solid Waste Management
• Keene Community Visioning Project

Our Setting

Keene's location in the Ashuelot River watershed and the Monadnock region provides an excellent location for field studies, with "urban" pollution problems and relatively undisturbed "pristine" forests in close proximity. Keene is a city of about 23,000, with a diverse commercial and industrial economic base and a history as a manufacturing and railroad center. The city (and the KSC campus) lies on an the bed of an ancient glacial lake, much of it in the floodplain of the Ashuelot River or its tributaries. There are many wetlands and productive aquifers. Nearby Mount Monadnock is one of the most climbed mountains in the world. The region continues to face many development pressures.

The Ashuelot River runs right through the KSC campus, which is at about at the half-way point along the river's course. Over the river's sixty-three mile length, its water quality varies significantly. The KSC campus also includes Brickyard Pond, the Arboretum and Gardens, and a Wildlife Management Area along the banks of the Ashuelot River near the College's athletic field complex, established by the KSC Grounds Crew in cooperation with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The College also owns a camp on Wilson Pond in nearby Swanzey and the 400-acre Louis Cabot Preserve on Lake Nubanusit in the towns of Nelson and Hancock. This latter property is cooperatively managed for the College by the Harris Center for Conservation Education in Hancock.

More about the College's lands, and parks and open spaces in the City of Keene.