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Students take part in 'Earth Hour'

Newswatch 16's Jack Culkin took part in an event Tuesday night to bring awareness to environmental issues.

DUNMORE, Pa. — It was a night spent stargazing at Penn State University's Scranton campus in Dunmore.

Hosted by the Science Department, the event is part of the World Wildlife Federation's 60 Earth Hour, where people around the globe unite to do something positive for planet Earth.

"We are coordinating this with our campus sustainability council to bring awareness to sustainability on our campus and all Penn State campuses. We're choosing to turn the lights off and conserve energy. We are going to spend our hour stargazing. We have some nice telescopes, and our physics professors are here to share the night skies with us," said Theresa Black, Lecturer of Environmental Sciences.

Students of all years and majors came to the campus soccer fields to take some time enjoying a little bit of the world that's around them.

"Sustainability is a very important part of being a member of any ecosystem you know or any environment. Learning about how you can make a difference yourself and just being generally educated is really important, and it could be fun too," said Brandon Winters, senior.

"Since I'm a STEM major, my curiosity brought me here. I saw the weather; it was clear, and it's an awesome opportunity to gaze at stars," said Krutik Solanki, senior.

First-year student Adam Horan says turning off the lights for an hour offers a great chance to get a few shots of a star-filled sky.

"I've been a big fan of space since I was little. I actually had a little period where I wanted to be an astronomy major, but I'm just out tonight to see venus, mars; take a picture if I can," said Adam Horan, a freshman.

According to World Wildlife Federation, over 190 countries and territories are expected to take part in the 'Earth Hour,' making it the largest one so far.

Check out WNEP's YouTube channel.

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