UT Martin has received a new certification as a Bee Campus USA this year to complement the ongoing certifications as a Level 1 Arboretum, since 2015, and a Tree Campus to Higher Education, since 2020.
It was suggested by Chris Virgin, Head of Campus Grounds, to pursue the Bee Campus USA program, which is an initiative of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, a nonprofit organization based in Oregon. The goal is to restore the invertebrate insect population that has been declining due to loss of habitat and use of neonic pesticides and to bring back native plants to the area, which will improve overall habitat health for not only the bees but all important pollinators.
Dr. Eric Pelren, UT Martin professor of Wildlife Biology and Center for Sustainability coordinator, says that extensive planning and consequential steps are being taken to reach this goal. The first step is to create a committee that will be for both “Trees and Bees” and will work to improve the pollinator habitat as well as implement Virgin’s goal of planting around 50 trees and tagging over 30 each year. In addition, there will be several service learning and student research projects with students working together with faculty and staff to better the campus and environment.
In order to bring back more native plants there is a tentative plan in place to plant a wildflower plot near Skyhawk Parkway and to delay mowing to allow clover and crucial flowers to bloom for pollinators. The university will be utilizing an Integrated Pest Management plan in order to carefully manage pests without the use of neonic pesticides.
To raise awareness of the declining pollinator population, UT Martin plans to start a webpage to be able to efficiently provide crucial information to the campus and surrounding communities.
Furthermore, the university has several events in place to promote sustainability and student involvement. During Earth Week in April, “Weed Wrangling” activities are scheduled to remove non-native invasive plant species from the campus. For Campus Sustainability month, the Campus Read this year is “All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis,” a book of essays and poetry on the critical role of women in solving the climate crisis. In congruence, Heather Teer Toney, one of the authors of the book, will be speaking on Sept. 13 on climate justice.
UT Martin is a “Center for Sustainability… I don’t like to think of us as leaders but facilitators to help other people do the good work,” said Pelren.
