Erin Camire ’24 picked up their diploma last week as a newly minted forestry graduate from the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. They will leave behind a legacy that positions ̽̽ to have more pollinator-friendly landscaping, a specific goal laid out in the university’s Comprehensive Sustainability Plan.
How did an undergraduate student become the go-to person for the future of pollinator gardens on campus? ̽̽’s Sustainable Solutions Lab hires students to wrestle with complex campus topics and coordinates faculty and staff subject matter experts to support them. Camire’s openness to new knowledge, a knack for analysis and taxonomy, and a talent for listening and collaborating made them the perfect fit for the lab’s inaugural cohort.
Camire grew up in western Massachusetts and was naturally drawn to ̽̽’s strong environmental science programs. “I’ve always loved being in the outdoors and wildlife habitats—I volunteered at a local zoo and spent a lot of time working at an animal rehab center,” said Camire, who uses they/them pronouns.
Passion for Sustainability Blossoms
An internship in the Hudson Valley during Camire’s first year at ̽̽ sharpened their interest in the relationship between bees and perennials. “I just fell in love with plants,” they said.
The experience led them focus their major on sustainable landscapes, highlighting the connections between nature, human cultivation and design. “It helps to understand the scope of the problem,” Camire explains. “There are some really alarming studies showing a big drop in pollinators and insects in many parts of the globe, which threatens ecosystems and food systems.”
As a Sustainable Solutions Lab intern Camire created a definition for what could be deemed “pollinator friendly,” evaluated over 600 campus garden beds using that criteria, made recommendations for improving low-scoring beds and made sure these efforts had strong roots to continue after they graduated.
“Once we reviewed the goals Erin understood the vision and really ran with it,” said Caylin McCamp, ̽̽ sustainability project manager in the Office of Sustainability. “It was a huge assessment that we couldn’t have accomplished without Erin’s time and expertise.”
Making a Campus Bee-utiful
They started by assessing native plants and ranking them in terms of how much pollen and nectar each provided and how active and resilient they were during the growing season.
Daffodils and tulips, for instance, provide a big infusion of pollen in the early spring but soon flame out. The addition of black-eyed susans and anise hyssop are great for mid-summer, with New England asters and goldenrod filling in later in the season.
They also evaluated native species through the lens of climate change—classifying which native plants are likely to thrive and which can be safely introduced here as temperatures warm. About one-third of ̽̽’s existing gardens scored a healthy four or higher on Camire’s five-point pollinator scale.
Connecting operational and academic folks with students to solve problems collaboratively is an important element of the Sustainable Solutions Lab. Throughout the year, Camire shared progress and ideas with faculty and staff sponsors, Plant and Soil Science Prof. Mark Starrett and Grounds Manager, Matt Walker.
“Most of our grounds here consist of lawns, and over years we’ve learned how to maintain them. Native plant beds require a lot more care and attention,” Camire explained.
Management of pollinator beds requires building a more diverse ecosystem of plants, weeding out invasives and brush hogging up every three years, services that are time consuming and may require horticultural training.
“We had plenty of discussions about what future plantings could be maintained by grounds staff and potentially what role students and faculty can play,” said McCamp.
A Lasting Legacy
Erin also worked to ensure their project had strong roots beyond their time at ̽̽. They revised ̽̽’s official design standard for plantings so that all future campus projects will work off a plant list that prioritizes native, low-water and pollinator friendly options.
"Erin’s map will help guide our decisions on where and what to plant to support pollinators," said Elizabeth Palchak, ̽̽ sustainability director. "This promotes biodiversity on campus and is a priority for our students.”
Camire also helped secure a Sustainable Campus Fund award for revamping the gardens around the Votey perimeter and one entrance to Lafayette using the improved plant list. After graduation Camire moves to Cape Cod to take up a position as an ecological landscape consultant with the Association to Preserve Cape Cod.
The ̽̽ Office of Sustainability’s Sustainable Solutions Lab aims to pair talented students with projects that are high impact for campus and the intern’s professional and leadership experience so students can learn from campus as a living laboratory and apply it to their careers. The ̽̽ Comprehensive Sustainability Plan promotes just, equitable sustainability solutions by connecting world class research and academics to University operations. The CSP has an ambitious goal of achieving climate neutrality for the university by 2023.