The certification procedure was once led via a workforce of environmental research majors.
SALEM, Va., Might 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Roanoke School is proud to announce that it’s been qualified as a Bee Campus USA website, spotting its constancy to pollinator-friendly practices that help essential environmental wishes.
Roanoke is the 2 hundredth faculty or college national to connect the Bee Campus USA motion. Its certification procedure was once spearheaded via scholars majoring in environmental studies who had been impressed to show what they had been studying into tangible motion proper right here on campus.
“We wanted to show how even small changes can be part of a big impact,” mentioned James Hartmann ’25, one in all 5 scholars who proposed the mission as a part of their senor practicum, a path that challenged them to take on a real-world factor.
Bee Campus USA is a countrywide program designed to marshal the strengths of upper ed campuses to build higher habitats for bees and alternative pollinators very important to our ecosystem. Jointly, pollinators support the growth of over 85% of flowering vegetation and 65% of agricultural plants. This hour, a new study concluded that one in 5 pollinators in North The usa is at an increased possibility of extinction.
As a part of its Bee Campus USA certification, Roanoke reaffirmed its constancy to pro-pollinator soil control practices, together with the importance of local vegetation on campus. Hartmann and classmates additionally added a pollinator plant division to the campus field, the place the Roanoke School Beekeeping Family maintains a hive and plans so as to add a 2d one later age.
Pollinator habitats are also supported on Elizabeth Campus, the place the Roanoke School Environment Center is restoring about 5 acres of meadows, planks, and creek swales. In 2024, it was once ready to put in bat homes and bee homes, thanks to grants from the Nationwide Natural world Federation, Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom School and College Serve Program, and the Virginia Environmental Endowment People Conservation Program.
“Bee Campus USA certification is a wonderful acknowledgment of the work our campus is doing to create a healthier environment for pollinators,” mentioned Mentor Kathy O’Neill, chair of environmental research at Roanoke. “Pollinators play a crucial role in our ecosystems, and we’re proud to be part of a national effort to protect them.”
Additional information is to be had at beecityusa.org.
SOURCE Roanoke School
