Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Central College is Certified as a Bee Campus USA

  • 05/31/18

PELLA, IA – Central College has recently been certified as an affiliate of the Bee Campus USA program, designed to marshal the strengths of educational campuses for the benefit of pollinators. Central is the only college in Iowa to earn the designation.

The Bee Campus USA designation recognizes educational campuses that commit to a set of practices that support pollinators, including bees, butterflies, birds, bats and more.

The designation is a natural fit for Central, a leader in environmental stewardship in Iowa and the Midwest. The college’s half-acre vegetable garden has honeybee hives managed by a student bee club. The garden also features permaculture, native prairie plants and a certified monarch waystation, all providing habitat for pollinators.

In addition, Paulina Mena, associate professor of biology, works with students to observe and collect bees at the garden, the college’s field station and at sites throughout the state. The research is documenting the declining genetic diversity of the roughly 400 species of bees native to Iowa.

Aware of these efforts, students Molly Luzbetak ’18 and Madison Friedrich ’18 led the effort to receive Bee Campus USA Certification. They constructed a “bee hotel” providing habitat for wild bees, and they planned a series of bee education events connecting college experts with local school and community groups. In partnership with the college grounds crew, they developed policies restricting toxins for pest management and installed signs highlighting pollinator-friendly habitats on campus.

“This project exemplifies how sustainability is integrated into all students’ education at Central, in our academic curriculum and everyday life,” says Brian Campbell, Central’s director of sustainability education. “Students live and learn in green buildings, develop sustainability research and service projects, work in our college garden and eat local foods in Central Market.”

Says Bee Campus USA director, Phyllis Stiles, “Imperiled pollinators are responsible for the reproduction of 90 percent of the world’s wild plant and tree species. Central College is a stellar example of the influence educational institutions can have on their students and the broader community.”

For more information about Bee Campus USA: www.beecityusa.org.

Featured

  • CU-Lock Haven Receives $1.75M Gift for New Entrepreneurship, Media Center

    Commonwealth University-Lock Haven in Lock Haven, Penn., recently received a $1.75-million donation from entrepreneur and alumnus Nicholas Subich ’17, according to a university news release. The funds will go toward establishing the Nicholas Subich Center for Entrepreneurship and Media, a technology-driven hub for innovation and experiential learning.

  • Northeastern University Breaks Ground on New Housing Community

    Northeastern University recently announced the groundbreaking of a new student housing community on its campus in Boston, Mass., according to a news release. The university is partnering with American Campus Communities (ACC) for development of the project, which will have the capacity for 1,200 students and has a scheduled completion date of fall 2028.

  • Wold Architects & Engineers Announces Acquisition of JJCA

    Wold Architects & Engineers, based in Minneapolis, Minn., recently announced that it has acquired JJCA, an architecture firm based in Nashville, Tenn., according to a press release. JJCA specializes in healthcare and education design; the partnership allows both firms to expand their presence across the country while building on existing strengths.

  • Doerr School of Sustainability Accelerator

    From Concrete Warehouse to Innovation Hub: Accelerating Sustainability at Stanford

    The transformation of a once windowless, concrete publishing warehouse into a sun-drenched center for global innovation began with a single, fundamental challenge: how to turn an industrial storage shell into a space built for human connection.