TIFTON – Students, faculty and staff at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College gathered Monday in the center of campus and joined a sunglass-wearing nation to gaze skyward at a rare natural phenomenon.More than 250 people attended the College’s Solar Eclipse Party, which was organized by Dr. Michael Maw, associate professor of agronomy at ABAC’s School of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
“I wanted to put together a multi-disciplinary event for the campus to celebrate the solar eclipse because it’s so rare here,” Maw said. “Even though we didn’t get the total eclipse, I just really wanted to have a fun event. All the different disciplines on campus had something relevant that they could add. We had a lot of buy-in and it was really exciting to see it all come together.”
Maw said he was grateful for the engagement from other faculty and staff, many of whom participated by setting up booths that linked their area of expertise to the eclipse. Examples of eclipses in literature were on display and one faculty member showed students how to make pinhole cameras with which to view the celestial event. Another display explained how chemistry is related to stars and space. Students were able to view the eclipse with glasses provided by the Office of Academic and Student Affairs.
Maw set up an experiment to measure how plants might react to the eclipse, as he and interested students took measurements of how much sunlight each plant type registered throughout the event.
“I’m grateful to President Brundage as well,” Maw added. “The President’s Office provided pizza and drinks for the students, and that really pulled it together. Students were able to eat, hang out and watch this event. We had karaoke and food and people were setting up blankets and bringing friends and just having a great afternoon.”
The next solar eclipse to be visible from South Georgia is expected in 2045.