Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Susquehanna First Campus in Pennsylvania to be Certified by Bee Campus USA

  • 08/20/18

SELINSGROVE, PA – Susquehanna University is the first university in Pennsylvania to be certified as an affiliate of the Bee Campus USA program, designed to marshal the strengths of educational campuses for the benefit of pollinators. 

“We are very proud to be the first college or university in the state to achieve this recognition,” says Derek Martin, sustainability coordinator at Susquehanna. “We have worked very hard at Susquehanna to make our campus a hospitable environment for honey bees and all pollinators. This recognition is confirmation that we’re doing the right things to support pollinators and our local environment.”

Pollinators like bumble bees, sweat bees, mason bees, honey bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, hummingbirds, and many others are responsible for the reproduction of 90 percent of the world's wild plant species and one in every three bites of food we consume.

Susquehanna joins more than 100 other cities and campuses across the country united in improving their landscapes for pollinators. Already, the university:

  • Maintains three bee hives at the Center for Environmental Education and Research (CEER) on Sassafras Street
  • Founded the student-run Beekeepers Club, which maintains the bee hives at the CEER
  • Planted two large plots of wildflowers to promote pollination
  • Holds pollinator awareness events during Earth Week 
  • Convened a Bee Committee, a subcommittee of the university’s Sustainability Committee

Certified campuses must renew their certification each year by reporting on accomplishments from the previous year.

Moving forward, Susquehanna’s Department of Facilities will draft an integrated pest management plan to govern the use of pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides, which is already limited on campus and not used at all at the CEER.

Bee City USA and Bee Campus USA are initiatives of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, a nonprofit organization based in Portland, OR, with offices across the country. Bee City USA’s mission is to galvanize communities and campuses to sustain pollinators by providing them with healthy habitat, rich in a variety of native plants and free of pesticides.

Featured

  • University of Arizona Approves New Residence Hall

    The Arizona Board of Regents recently approved plans for a new residence hall at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Ariz., according to a news release. The new facility is scheduled to open in fall 2028 and have the capacity for more than 1,200 students, enforcing a new university expectation that all first-year students live on campus.

  • Houston K–12 District Opens New Elementary School

    The Lamar Consolidated Independent School District (Lamar CISD) recently announced the completion of a new elementary school in a western suburb of Houston, Texas, according to a news release. Haygood Elementary School measures in at 110,000 square feet, has the capacity for 854 students, and is the first of three new schools scheduled to be built in the Cross Creek West community.

  • NWEA Report Recommends K–12 Natural Disaster Recovery Strategies

    The Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA), a K–12 assessment and research organization, recently announced the release of a new playbook for schools and communities recovering from extreme weather events, according to a news release.

  • California K–12 District Completes Elementary School Campus Replacement

    The West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) in Richmond, Calif., recently announced the completion of a replacement campus for Lake Elementary School, according to a news release. The school has capacity for 470 students between Transitional Kindergarten (TK) and sixth grade.