Creating a ‘third space’ in the science center garden

In the heart of the science center lies a garden tucked away from the business of everyday life, forgotten by all but a handful of students and clubs.

The Science Center Courtyard was once managed by a greenhouse manager, but that position was cut in 2019 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, Kate Witte, who joined KSC’s Sustainability Office in 2024, has stepped in to fill the role. “I’m not the greenhouse manager, but I manage the greenhouse if that makes sense.”

Witte said it makes more sense for her to manage the courtyard than KSC’s grounds staff, who are stretched thin maintaining the whole campus.

“I have the flexibility to stay for student projects and be here for when students want to do stuff, and since I advise Eco-Reps and help advise ESSC [Environmental and Sustainability Studies Club], it’s easier for me to manage the space.”

Among the different flowers, ferns and creatures living within the garden are fruits such as peaches, plums, apples and blueberries, which Witte said are her favorites.

She explained the space was designed to mimic local landscape architecture and show the natural flow of a native or pollinator habitat. Unlike a typical garden, the leaf litter is left in place, which helps pollinators hibernate, enriches the soil and keeps the ecosystem in a closed loop.

Witte spoke about her role as advisor to Eco-Reps, a student organization that advocates for sustainability.

“In the two years that I have been here, the clubs have been using it,” she said. “[ESSC] use it for native seed collection, and sometimes the Eco-Reps will use it just because it’s pretty.”

Eco-Reps and the ESSC are the two most prominent groups to use the space, with the two clubs “cross-pollinating” with each other frequently because of overlapping interest.

Last year, the ESSC hosted a fall clean-up. Witte said she has already begun to see the benefits, even though leaf decay is a slow process. The club hosted another courtyard clean-up on September 30.

“There are definitely things that need to be cleaned up and taken care of, but typically, we wait until the fall to do that since students are here, and it’s the students who have an interest in the projects, we like to wait until they’re back,” said Witte.

Along with hosting the annual fall clean-up, ESSC hosts many events throughout the year, such as bee box building and bug hotels, which are “teepee-like structures” filled with sticks and leaves for bugs to hibernate in.

Witte added, “If students want to get involved all they have to do is reach out to me and I am always happy to figure something out.”

Witte said the courtyard ultimately belongs to the students, and how much it is used is up to them. She described it as a “third space,” not strictly academic, not solely social, but something in between, where students can be surrounded by nature while still connected to the real world.

And in the end, she leaves the question to students: What do you see when you look at the courtyard?