<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><item href="/pre-go-live-resources/_migration/2026-08-21/magazine/spring-2023/back-garden-new-sustainability-coordinator-grounded-faith-and-science.html" dsn="news"><pubDate/><title>Back to the Garden: New Sustainability Coordinator Grounded in Faith and Science</title><excerpt>Janell Balmaceda uses a pitchfork to spread mulch over the walkways that weave between the garden rows below Thorrington Field. Student intern Peter Schramm ’25 hammers together pieces from several wooden pallets to create new compost bins. This spring, the Westmont garden is flourishing again, thanks in large part to Balmaceda, Westmont’s new sustainability coordinator and garden manager. A team of student volunteers began planting vegetables in March, which the Dining Commons served at the end of the semester. After some repairs, the chicken coop houses egg-laying hens.</excerpt><author/><image>
            
            <img src="/_migrated-binaries/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_900w/public/Janell%20Balmaceda%20Kneeling.jpg" alt="Janell Balmaceda in the Westmont Garden"/>
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