Living Classroom Donor Event

Donors learning outside — Guests twisting rope from Indigenous plants found on campus.

On Thursday, October 26, donors got a "taste" of hands-on learning at UVic during the Living Classroom event. Enthusiastic students from Environmental Studies and their instructor, Fiona Hamersley Chambers, led guests on a tour of the Ian Moss Memorial Garden in the courtyard of the David Turpin Building and shared some of the things they have learned in class about native plants and their uses. They showed donors how to prepare some of the plants for food, skincare, medicine and other practical uses.

Afterwards, donors headed back inside for a talk from Dr. Darcy Mathews about how this sort of learning and research ties in with reconciliation practices. Delicious hot tea made from campus plants (licorice fern, grand fir and cedar tips) was served, along with cider tasting from Sea Cider and delicious bite-sized treats made with local ingredients and foraged mushrooms, provided by Toque catering. Thanks to everyone who came to the event, and thank you so much to the students from ES 421, Ethnobotany: Plants and Human Cultures, who shared their impressive knowledge.