Something new is abuzz at College of the Canyons.

The college has earned designation as a Bee Campus USA affiliate, becoming the only community college in Southern California to receive the distinction in recognition of its long-standing commitment to pollinator conservation, native habitat restoration, and biodiversity education.

As a Bee Campus USA affiliate, COC will further its efforts to conserve native pollinators by providing healthy habitats rich in diverse native plants, protected nesting sites, and landscapes managed with minimal pesticides.

Research shows significant global declines in native pollinator populations. In fact, up to 40 percent of pollinator species worldwide may be at risk of extinction in the coming years due to habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change.

“Our Bee Campus Committee is proud to lead this important initiative, which strengthens COC’s commitment to education, research, and community engagement focused on native bee pollinators,” said Jeannie Chari, biodiversity initiative coordinator, who also teaches biology and environmental science at the college. “We are especially proud to be the only community college in Southern California to receive this designation. This recognition creates meaningful opportunities for our faculty, staff, students, and community members to learn about the essential ecosystem services pollinators provide—and to take action in supporting healthy pollinator populations.”

This designation builds on the work supported by the National Science Foundation grant, “The BUZZ: Engaging Community College Students in Native Bee Biodiversity Research” awarded to COC in 2023. Through a dedicated network of 33 community colleges in California and four in Arizona, students are using their own campuses as Living Labs—collecting valuable data that helps guide habitat development and enrichment for native bees.

“These efforts don’t just support bees,” added Chari. “They benefit butterflies, birds, and overall biodiversity across our ecosystems.”

The college is well positioned to expand its pollinator-focused work. Campus resources include a large greenhouse for growing native plants, a free seed library offering native plant seeds to the community, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Building Performance that emphasizes designing the built environment to enrich biodiversity. Student organizations such as the Outdoor Education Club and the Hands on Earth Club are also actively engaged in conservation and habitat-enrichment activities.

Bee Campus USA is managed by the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, which is an international science-based nonprofit organization that protects the natural world through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitats.

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

“The program aspires to make people more PC—pollinator conscious, that is,” said Scott Hoffman Black, Xerces’ executive director. “If lots of individuals and communities begin planting native, pesticide-free flowering trees, shrubs and perennials, it will help to sustain many, many species of pollinators.”

To learn more on how to become involved with COC’s Bee Campus efforts, please email COCBEECampus@canyons.edu.