Zade: 

The landscape of Minnesota has undergone severe changes in the last 200 years, leading to the decimation of the native Prairie, which has for thousands of years, been a crucial part of the ecosystem. To give a little perspective on just how much the landscape has changed in a short period of time prior to the shaped sharp pivot towards agriculture, Minnesota landscape was made-up of 1/3 native Prairie. With the introduction of large agricultural practices primarily based around mono crop production, only 1% of the native Prairie persists today. The current landscape of Minnesota includes 51% of land being agricultural land and 75% of lands categorized as private lands. That being said, a massive amount of native Prairie has been lost to the extraction area economy that Minnesota operates in, and the ecosystem services that the Prairie used to used to provide have been lost. 

Ryan: 

The land in Minnesota prior to the colonial era in North America was full of indigenous peoples who had their own agricultural. And stewardship practices. And there were thriving native ecosystem. However, the colonization of the continent led to extractive and damaging agricultural practices, which continue to this day. The land which has traditionally served as a source of shelter food spiritual connection has been altered to a point where it's almost unrecognizable. Traditional native Prairie is defined. As Unplowed lands dominated by grass and sage species, scattered with broad leaved herbs and some low lying shrubs. These plants support supportive animals such as bison elk and have contributed to supporting many other small animals, which are key parts of the ecosystem. However, these lands have been damaged by an extractive culture of cultivation, agricultural, agriculture, mining, and urban expansion. 

Zade: 

Living in urban Minnesota, these facts might be hidden to the everyday person. That is why we wanted to delve deeper into the topic of what the landscape used to look like and how that is represented at Macalester. Here specifically, we wanted to explore how the prairies and gardens at Macalester are used today and how they could be better utilized in the future. How can environmental justice be part of the conversation surrounding these primarily aesthetic or research places? Can these spaces be a place where students can connect to the cultural and spiritual aspects of a natural environment? Could expansion and improvement of native plant spaces be a tangible action to a currently performative land acknowledgement? 

Ryan: 

To explore this further, we conducted interviews with maintainers of garden spaces at Mac but also with managers of gardens at Saint Thomas and St Kates. I'm Ryan: and I'm Zaid. This is a deep dive into campus gardens around the Twin Cities. 

Zade: 

Macalester Native Prairie Garden lies behind golden rice between the building and the scoreboard at the field. To many students at Mac it's known as that patch of dead grass by the windmill. In reality, this face is a much more significant meaning. It is a biological replica of those pre colonial Prairie lands that used to cover southwestern Minnesota, including the Twin Cities. The Ordway Natural History Study area represents a similar Lance. Both these spaces serve as an important educational and scientific role order. It is used for research by students and faculty alike, and the on campus Garden serves as an important tool for classes looking to study Prairie ecosystems. An added bonus of the on Campus Garden is that it filters runoff from the parking lot naturally before letting it flow into a storm drain. The role these spaces serve are valuable, but we are wondering how can Macalester do more? How can we enable these spaces to serve spiritual and cultural roles in addition to their academic role? 

Ryan: 

We called up Professor Gerald Bosch in the biology department to see what his thoughts on. The topic were. He is the director of Ordway and also played a big role in the development, implementation, and maintenance of the current on Campus Prairie Garden. 

Zade: 

We wanted to hear what Professor Josh had to say about the history of the garden. The thinking is that if we Understand the historical context. We can make better recommendations for the future. 

Professor Dosch: 

It it will predates me. I mean. My understanding is that originally that whole. Right 'cause it's it's sucking down, right? That hole is created as a way to manage stormwater. 

And I've never seen this in writing, but again, what I've heard is that then somebody said Aw looks like a volleyball area, and so I think it was then a sand volleyball pit as a secondary. Once again, the primary uses stormwater control and then again I haven't seen this in writing, but what I've heard. Is that what the heck? Let's put a volleyball net up and play volleyball there and then. I think in 2004 was when it got planted in the prayer. Uh, so then it wasn't created as a priority as my understanding right is created as a way to manage stormwater. Right, right? So I think it drains everything that's now the Leonard Center parking lot. Comes into the east side of it. And then kind of filters through the sand and stuff, and if it ever got really high, there's a drain at the West side of it to the. Tennis court end. 

Ryan: 

We also were. Curious about other specialized garden spaces on campus and their histories? There are plenty of flower gardens around that serve an aesthetic role, but no research for this project. We found some stories of student run rain gardens. We asked Professor Dosh about this. 

Professor Dosch: 

In what year did and did some searching? Did you guys find this thing so? This is May of 2009. It says Macalester College institutional action plan for carbon neutrality. Did I hear about that? No, yeah, OK, yeah, again, it's uh. It says adopted by Justin Lee from the Environmental Studies Senior Seminar 2009 report. And there's a part in here on page 32 about stormwater runoff. And that's the heading. So on page 33 it talks about the rain gardens. OK, and it says Macalester currently has two ring gardens located at the front of the library and by the Olin Rice Science Center. And it says, you know, the plants that are in there should be perennial natives. And that talks a. Tiny bit about the green roofs. 

Professor Schroeder: 

Yeah, we we heard a. 

Ryan: 

Little bit about green groups like wasn't the space of like above. The connector between Dodi and Turk? 

Professor Dosch: 

Yep, green group. Yeah, that's 300 square feet and then there's a 1350 square foot thing on top of Kagan. I don't know. Who's if anybody been up there in years? I have not been up there in a lot of years. To see what's up, those were actually both created, installed by Mac students because of Grant from the EPA. 

Ryan: 

OK. 

Professor Dosch: 

OK oh really, OK, but a long time ago I want to say 15 ish years. Something like that, maybe more. It's hard to keep track of time. Yeah, so you know those are other spaces. Again, as we go into strategic planning to think about native plantings and stormwater retention and gardens and all those things, right? We got all this space that's on top of roofs. Yeah well, in addition to it that's on the ground level there. There already is stuff up there. And I don't know what. Shape it's in. And you know the potential. I think for adding. 

Ryan: 

Absolutely, absolutely. Yeah, because I think. 

Professor Dosch: 

One of the big. 

Ryan: 

Things and one. Of the goals of our present of our our work here is to. Kind of figure. Out like how can. We have garden spaces on campus that more people can. 

Professor Dosch: 

Kind of connect to. 

Ryan: 

On more than just an aesthetic level, like kind of that hopefully spiritually connect to each loop. 

Professor Dosch: 

Everything right now like. 

Ryan: 

Or I guess having rain garden spaces like that. 

Professor Dosch: 

Well, there's kind of. 

Ryan: 

A reason behind. It, and it's constructed of mostly native plants. Uhm, can you kind of provide that space like they can? You could go into that Dale. This is what the land used to look. 

Zade: 

Like so we definitely have the potential for some native plant gardens on campus despite. Our urban environment. Maybe even with the right. Rooftops we could make it as space students could visit and spend reflective time as we got into this conversation, Professor Dosh pulled up a picture of the rooftop greenhouse at Saint Olaf. We've linked the website he has. He was visiting on the webpage here. 

Professor Dosch: 

This is the roof of their science building. OK, so the the greenhouse is. Students can wander through again like I just need some time alone, right? Or I want to hang out in some place in the middle of winter that's humid and sunny and full of plants and then. This is outside. On top of their science building, there are study spaces and you know I want some new time in nature, spaces outside and really easy access. Like to get on the green roof on Kagan, you need somebody from security to go with you and open the doors and you go up a rickety stairway. You know it's not a space that students can go. Where is it saying Olaf anybody right can go in the science building? Go up to the top floor, wander through the green houses and both right? Out of the roof. There's study tables out there. There are these benches. Out there, it's amazing. 

Zade: 

Yeah, I think. I think it's kind of a common thread that in like in doing research like comparing other schools to Macalester is that like a lot of like the space is the the gardens magic. For example at the university Minnesota they have like a a native plant garden on. On their Saint Paul campus, which is just like an. 

Ryan: 

Example of like. 

Zade: 

I mean, it's obviously very accessible to students, but also has like that inherent connection. That kind of like. 

Professor Dosch: 

It connects people to like the land that. 

Zade: 

They are at. 

Ryan: 

So I think. 

Zade: 

Yeah, there were kind of. I think we'll find out more obviously from our. 

Ryan: 

Meetings with other people about in regards to this project, the native plant garden behind Ola is not the only priority that is part of Macalester. There's also Ordway, the nearly 300 acre site 17 miles South of campus on the banks of the Mississippi right now. Broadway is pretty inaccessible for the General Macalester student. If you're not. Part of a class or a research project in that space. Although you've never been there and I'm probably wondering how. You could visit. And our research into other schools, we found that Carlton has a pretty successful Prairie space, and so we brought it up with Professor Dosh. Because he just so. Happens to be the director of Broadway. So we're thinking. About the garden. As a space, but in this project we also were like snooping around and found kind of Carlton's stuff that they have going on and they have a priority space. Not as big as. 

Professor Dosch: 

Old way at all, but it's quite. 

Ryan: 

Near to their campus and it's kind of an undisturbed Prairie in the sense that it was never it. 

Professor Dosch: 

Right? 

Ryan: 

It was never used for agricultural agricultural purposes because of the topography of the land. 

Zade: 

And we notice. 

Ryan: 

That that space is used a lot for like biology and kind of STEM fields, but all still violate their arts department by the religious studies department. Like a film class and whatnot, and so we're kind of curious like. 

Professor Dosch: 

If you. 

Ryan: 

Know of any similar? 

Professor Dosch: 

Projects going on the hard way or. Yeah, so we yeah Megan Vossler and art is award-winning regularly. They've had nine different. Departments having classes out there in the last. You know, leading up to COVID then kind of, not much happened during COVID and now. It's raining again. Yeah, in fact is if if you go on Macalester website and search for terrain. TWRANI guess make this. I smell terrain. There's a dance film. Yeah, but that's not part of it. Was that Broadway? I'm trying to think of her name. She retired a number of years ago. She was the chair of dance at Mac. 

Ryan: 

OK. 

Professor Dosch: 

I did a dance film with a bunch of Mac alumni and part of its outward way. That stuff that stuff has happened again. The huge advantage that like Carlton Salem has. If they can walk out their dorm room door or the science building door and they're they're in their natural lands. 

Professor Dosch: 

Right, so the challenge for us is how do we get people toward way which is, you know, 25, five or and or right? How do we do more on campus? 

Ryan: 

Yeah, yeah, it's like almost like how do we bring Ordway onto campus? Yes, and kind of that's where we thought. Maybe this current existing native Prairie Garden can be kind of a. Little sliver, right? That can be brought onto campus, kind of. Maybe even service. Of both a physical bridge in terms of like oh you go here, learn a little bit and then feel like you want to go to one way. But also like an intellectual and spiritual. Imagine that like. Here's a little sliver. Of what is out? There and I can go there to. Remember what it's like to be over at. Old way and, et cetera. 

Professor Dosch: 

Yeah, yeah, those are good ideas. 

Ryan: 

That type of. 

Zade: 

Talking through how we could improve orderly accessibility lead us to the last bit of our conversation where we asked Professor Bosch what his thoughts were on the next steps for the on campus Garden looking towards the future. Are there like? I guess we could focus. Particularly on the. On campus garden like I guess, are there like in any immediate like steps you could see happen that like I think you that that you think would really improve like the use of. 

Ryan: 

Uhm, the on campus Prairie. Whether that's like adding like little. 

Zade: 

I don't know like walkways through the garden, more signage like I guess just better your. 

Ryan: 

Thoughts on that? 

Professor Dosch: 

Yeah, so the the let's see would that be the northwest corner? The corner nearest Leonard Center. The sign is now gone and it's being redesigned. So you know that's that's in progress, which. Is a good thing. Yeah, paths or trails. These are interesting ideas. Right? At ordinary we have trails that you know. They don't go anywhere. And that's the same as you know, state parks and whatever else I think trails serve a couple purposes. One is obviously to get people into spaces. The flipside is in a way to keep people out of spaces. But if you if you build trails. People will go where the trails are typically illegal elsewhere, yeah? 2nd order we we purposely don't have trails near research sites and near sites of historic. You know, kind of archaeological and cultural resource management. So we could you know and people people. Use the campus Prairie, larger neighbors and stuff right. Then just blast through there. So we got pretty path in some ways would make sense because again it would allow people to do what they're already doing. And and, you know, send a message like OK walk here, don't walk everywhere else. I don't crush the rest of the plants, yeah, so once that makes sense but I think again then the two design. It in such a way that it's. Uhm, as permeable as possible because again, the original use my understanding is rainwater management, so it wouldn't make any sense to put a cement sidewalk or the middle right or asphalt or something, but maybe it's wood chips that decompose over time, or. 

Professor Dosch: 

Very interesting. 

Professor Dosch: 

Permeable pavers something like that. Yeah, we're gonna we're in some ways open up access. 

Professor Dosch: 

To be. 

Professor Dosch: 

In this way we. Could go down there maybe as a bench they. Can sit there. We've had some important regenerative time. 

Ryan: 

Yeah, yeah, 'cause right now there's a like a little. Path, so to speak. It's like a little. 

Professor Dosch: 

Cut out 'cause I. 

Ryan: 

Know it used it. Yeah and I was doing things. With the ecology class. 

Professor Dosch: 

Right? 

Ryan: 

We walked down in there but. 

Professor Dosch: 

Yeah, I think that was unintended, right? That's been created by use as opposed to a thoughtful design. Right? Yeah, so, but uh, thoughtful design could be. Important, you know, not a. A straight quarter corner cut through, but you know something that maybe meanders a little bit, right? 

Ryan: 

Yeah, I think that's really important too, because there aren't really any spaces on campus or you can sit and feel like you aren't in a city for a little bit. 

Professor Dosch: 

The only one. 

Ryan: 

I can think of is right outside the library where they have like kind of the wooden structure that goes around. And if you're available like early fall. Late spring in the summer when all the plants are kind of in bloom. That's like one of the only spaces you can go and sit and write, not. See any writing feel like you're. 

Professor Dosch: 

Well, and I I think it was purposely built for that. Ah, I think it's used around the Jewish holidays, specifically as a spiritual space. 

Ryan: 

Talking to Professor Dosh was a great. Way to learn more. About garden spaces and their human connections. Here at Mac, we wanted to continue to learn about other schools. Though Saint, Olaf and Carleton were nice examples, but they're rural campuses, so it works for them. Isn't as applicable to Macalester. We were wondering what other nearby schools are doing. And what has worked for them? 

Zade: 

First, we called the professors Dorian Schroeder and Kathryn Grant of the Saint Thomas Biology department. 

Ryan: 

Our conversation began with the garden space on the Saint Thomas campus. We wanted to know about its role as an ecosystem service and how it impacts the campus community. 

Zade: 

In the Macalester area, we've driven past Saint Thomas, St. Thomas and. 

Ryan: 

Like I mean. 

Zade: 

I've walked a little bit, but from what I've seen I I personally haven't come across like a native garden or anything, so I guess we're just curious like is there sort of like that native garden space on campus where students can go to on Saint Thomas? 

Professor Schroeder: 

It's not the same as what you have at Macalester at all, so you have this little patch of Prairie. What we have is a series of gardens that are planted specifically to attract pollinators. And that's the kind of educational that's the goal is to educate the Saint Thomas and broader communities about pollinators and the hero too. Support them. 

Zade: 

We were surprised and intrigued to hear about how garden spaces on the campus are catered to pollinators as opposed to being more focused on prayer restoration. We wanted to hear more about the pollen air path and how it came to be become such an integral part of the campus. 

Catherine Grant: 

For a college campus? You have much smaller spaces and you can't necessarily recreate pros, So what we've. Been trying to. Do is create is just integrate. Take existing buds right and change the plant palette so that it integrates plants native and non-native that have pollinator. Value which means. They pollinators will go to them and drink nectar and club pond, right? So we've been working since 2015, so like to work with the grounds, people and various other people on the in the academic sphere of things. To to plant the different bugs we have these signs everywhere it's been branded by our marketing people as a pollinator path we have a we had a website that kind of disappeared on us. Uhm, that we work with different people in sustainability to have class content Doreen's doing a a curriculum right now for a thing called a badge. So we we sort of integrated the plants and then try to have it be that it's a resource for people. Both to visit and to learn things. About about pollinators. 

Professor Schroeder: 

Yeah, one of the reasons why it's amazing is that we have the advantage that these plants are have all been planted by us. It's not to replicate a Prairie. Right, we've got a much more concentrated. 

Ryan: 

We then dived a bit more into the specifics of what makes up a polity in her space, and how Doreen and Catherine successfully maintained the pollinator path on their campus. 

Catherine Grant: 

So the thing to realize is that. Like all campuses have slants right. They have landscaping and most of them are pretty tried and true old fashion with lawns, tons of lawn which is not. Valid with pollinators and lots of trees. These a lot of which are native trees and then shrubs, right and pretty much. They only have those. Three things and. Trees are trees and. Shrubs are valuable when they bloom, but they usually have a shorter bloom time and not all of them are pollinated by bees. A lot of wind pollinated. 

Zade: 

Right? 

Catherine Grant: 

And so if you really want to be feeding pollinators a lot, you have to have food for them starting in April and going all the way to November. 

Ryan: 

Right? 

Catherine Grant: 

A little bit of reading about it. There's, you know. In Minnesota especially, there's very specific plants that bloom at different times, and so you need to create gardens or beds that. Have all those plants. In the certain concentration to be attractive to bees. Right, so we've tried to do that, sort of as as as gardeners as plant instead of. Not necessarily. We're not ecologist trying to recreate Prairie. Because we can't do that. Here, but what we've been able to do is work. Is work with the grounds people to allow us to have certain areas that are under our care. 

Ryan: 

Right, OK? 

Catherine Grant: 

And they, and because it's it's considered a lab or it's used by students, the grounds people. Say that it's OK. And as long as we keep looking a. Certain way they let us do it. So, so I think any. Any beds on campus that can incorporate? Plants that are valuable to pollinators like every campus should be able to do that. You know what I mean? It doesn't have to be isolated with the sign on it, it just needs to be anywhere. So what Doreen and I did in the beginning is we used to walk around looking at what was blooming. You guys can do this too, and if you're. Out on the West Coast, things are. Blooming, you probably saw bees and hummingbirds and stuff this. Honey are as I would call. So look for what's blooming like look like a bee and you see what's blooming and you say, well, is anybody using this flower right now? Is there anyone at this flower? Right, and that's how you start to clue in like, that's how we began. We even had beds on our pollinator path that had no bees just to make people look at a bed. And as it as a human, you you look at it aesthetically well that's pleasing to me. It has lots of flowers that if you look closer, there's no insect activity at all. Flowers, so why is there? Right, so that's my mission has always been. Just get rid of the the ones that. Aren't being used and bringing flowers. That that service service. They're ecologically valuable. 

Zade: 

We were then curious as to what services the garden and pollinator spaces on the campus provided to the people who who walk the campus grounds. Our main focus was figuring figuring out if the spaces provided a more spiritual aspect to campus, which other spaces can't. 

Ryan: 

And do you find or you notice that like? That helps kind of or that has like. Started conversations on campus about more than just like. Oh, that's where the. Flowers are. Like do you people? At Saint Thomas kind of. Now because of this pollinator path. Talk about more than just the aesthetic value of these gardens, patients and more meaning about the ecological value, or. Maybe like a? Cultural value in that like oh we need to like these bees kind of represent. Something that needs to be preserved or these pollinators need to be. There's something that needs to be preserved and this is how we can help do that. Like is that. Something that maybe has been sparked. 

Catherine Grant: 

I think so during do you think so? 

Professor Schroeder: 

Absolutely, UM, on so much so that and the admission tours. Pollinator Path was pointed out and mentioned to prospective students. Most of the students that come in and like orientation welcome weekend. Learn about the pollinator path. Right or native trees on campus depending on what's going on and so. And actually. In coaling my classes starting a couple of years ago, students incoming first year students knew about the pollinator path from there. Prospective student tours. They came in knowing about the pollinator path. And so. Yep, it has made an impact. Uh, a visible impact on students anyway. And you know, again, part of the the main goal. That's my bird, sorry. The main goal of the pollinator path was to. Educate people while. While providing Food and habitat. 

Ryan: 

Hearing about how the path has become an important part of the student experience on campus was really inspirational and we wanted to know a little bit more about how the Macalester campus could try to reinvigorate its path and maybe create connectivity with Saint Thomas as well as create an immersive student experience. 

Catherine Grant: 

One summer during an I. Went around we had a project we were trying to map pollinator. Value the we. We assigned a number from one to three of pollinate. Value of different front yards in the neighborhood and this is back when you guys had still had pollinator path signs on your campus. 

Catherine Grant: 

They're working off of the idea about having a core ecological corridor between our two campuses, right. We went up. Lincoln was at Lincoln during. Uh, we have a big. Map on the wall here so. We walked up Lincoln. It took us maybe two days. And we stopped in front of every single. House and gave. It a rating of 1 to 3 right through being fantastic and one being. And and there are very few trees, but we are trying to establish like if we could provide more habitat along Lincoln right? To get between our two campuses 'cause we have a. Huge both number and and diversity of pollinators on our campus and we think it's 'cause of what we have here. But it's all because we're by the river, right? You guys are little more. 

Ryan: 

Right? 

Catherine Grant: 

Anyway, so we're we're working off that that idea, but then your your pollinator path kind of stopped being important and we lost that. But we would love to revise the whole Lincoln corridor thing because. It could be an interesting way. One of the things they're being started here as we've done. Uhm, capture Mark and release. Studies of bumblebees. We've been capturing them and we freeze them a little bit and then we mark them with a marker and release them and then the following day or throughout the next week or whatever. We have different data sheets. Will we collect data on how many green marked bumblebees did we see? And where did we see them? That just to see where they move if they're moving between different beds or whatever and see how far they forage. And I don't know. I think we were kind of hoping back in the day that we could have something while at Macalester where we could see if if we open up some residential corridors. If we could get the bees to. To forage between our campuses. 

Ryan: 

I mean, yeah, I think there's potential for that. I mean, right now, Macalester is undergoing kind of its new strategic planning for the next 10 years. And so there's a lot of. Changes happening and discussions being had about that. Kind of what? To me, seems really interesting about that. Is that it would allow students both at some Thomas and Macalester to have this opportunity to. Like explore their neighborhood a little. Bit but also through the lens of like. Uhm, enjoying and observing more of a natural setting and disconnecting from the city a little bit. I think a lot of what we. Thought of as important parts of this. Prairie Garden project and what we're looking at is like. How do we bring? Spaces to campuses where students can feel. More of a spiritual connection to nature and be able to like not feel like the next city. Uh, my cousin on Macalester. There's only like virus space right now and it's like a little bench area that you can send in. Where you feel like. I'm not in the city, right? Now and everywhere. Else, there's buildings around and eat well. You don't never feel that, and so. So I think that's kind of exciting about this is. It's like, oh, here's like a thing you can do for like an hour if you want to like disconnect from, take a break from school, let's go, walk and walk on the pollinator path and see who we can see. And so I think there's actually. There's room for that. 

Catherine Grant: 

Well, we have that down at in the garden. 

Catherine Grant: 

That's called the stewardship garden. We are part of it. We call this monitor garden and that's that right next to the river. So if you if you come back down there later on, you'll see that area. It's a very immersive experience and I think, though even though you can still hear traffic you are. I think we're lucky that we have that space. It's undeveloped right now, and the neighbors all use it like there's people with their dogs all the time. And there's grandparents with grandchildren. There's little kids and this summer. I I had increased the pollinator area by a lot by like 1500 or 2000 square feet and one day there was a mom who came with a bunch of little kids on bikes and they parked their bikes and they had. And sketchpads and they all went down to. The flowers and. They did little drawings of flowers and bees and went back home. And it was, you know, it was. Like such a great. Thing and I know a lot of students go down there with their hammers and they string them up between the trees so. But what we don't. Have is like. Anything saying you should come sit here, you know we don't have seating or anything, so a lot of people come down and just bond. There, and I know they all feel really energized when they've been down there. 'cause you can get a little bit of nature even though it's garden nature, you know. 

Professor Dosch: 

Yeah yeah, yeah. 

Zade: 

In hearing about the success of the Saint Thomas Campus Gardens. We then pivoted to. The native Prairie garden on Macalester campus. 

Ryan: 

We have this native Prairie on campus, but for most of the year it. Really is either covered in snow or is like the dead sunflower stalks, uhm? 

Professor Schroeder: 

Can you go into it or is? 

Catherine Grant: 

It fenced off and it's just. Something to look at I can't remember. Are there pathways in it? 

Ryan: 

Yeah, well, it's actually a conversation. We just had this morning there so there is a path in it, but it it's not like an official, it's just kind of. How people have used the. Space they walked into the middle of it, but one of our idea is kind of going forward and to develop the space into something that. Can be more used by the whole campus and not just like the biology department would be. Have more like a wood chip, little path under the middle and maybe a. Bench in there or something like that. 

Catherine Grant: 

Right, right? 

Ryan: 

So you could kind of immerse yourself in it. More so than. Then you can. Do right now. 

Catherine Grant: 

I think that we found this summer I had my students comparing our that area. The Pollinator Garden area in the intense area, which we irrigate, right? 'cause we've had droughts for two years running that. Right? With restored prairies over Minneapolis. They're counting like the density of bees on certain plants that we have a lot of here, and. And there's really like during the saying earlier that we're not. We haven't restored created prairies, but we're using Prairie plants as garden plants, right? And and so you get a much higher density of bees in that small space. If you're irrigating it, 'cause it's easier for them to collect nectar and pollen if you. If if you serve it all up in one concentrated area, does that make sense? So we ended up. It's just a. It's a different experience. Then a Prairie. Sometimes you go under a restored Prairie and. You know it all looks kind of the same and and there's not a lot of pollinators that are concentrated. They're more spread out, so sometimes I think our little area is pretty spectacular. 

Ryan: 

Yeah, yeah. 

Catherine Grant: 

Compared with the more just the ones that are more like scattered. 

Ryan: 

Yeah, it sounds like it. Conversation about the importance of placing ecologically relevant pollinators and garden spaces really resonated with us. We wanted to hear more about what the future garden spaces on the Saint Thomas campus are. 

Zade: 

I guess just in terms of the future of the garden spaces around Saint Thomas, and like the pollinator path. Are there like any plans for like expansion or? Is is it just look? Like I guess, kind of what you were talking. About is like. Cutting, like more ecologically like useful plants and spaces where there are gardens or anything like that. 

Catherine Grant: 

I think for me my frustration is that I wish that I could lose landscape all of campus. But that's not my job. Which is to do what you just said, which is to is to sort of change the palette that's used on campus so that it's more valuable to pollinators. It's so easy to do. There's so many things in this world that you see that they're wrong and you want to fix them, but you can't like you can buy an electric car, or you can walk or bike, you know. But I mean, but and I feel like with pollinators it's not that difficult to make a difference for your local population by planting the right things. It's really easy to do. The hard thing is getting in an institution like a college is getting the grounds people on board. And they tend to be sort of resistant, and they also tend to not be horticulturalists or plant people. The lawn people on machine people. Do you know what I mean? And so that is a difficult? Thing to change that culture? It's really hard to change. But in terms of our campus, within the realm that I have control over, well, I just want to keep planning more things. 'cause this last summer was very successful. They did an experiment. We'll put a ton of annuals in thinking during and I would take let's do a census on who visited them. 'cause like there's annuals and those perennials, and these tend to prefer the perennials so they have a choice between annual flower and a perennial. It'll almost always pick the perennial, but at the end of the season. In like September, October, most of the perennials are done blooming and it's kind of there's no. Food out for them. Is that for yeah few perennials that are blooming and boy those annuals that had been overlooked all summer, we were suddenly the bomb man and they are all over those plants and just every time I go down there I just say we're covered in bees and I was just so happy that I had him there. 'cause you just think well where else would they be if they weren't here, you know, so I'd like to just keep every time I see lawn. 

Catherine Grant: 

I just want to tear it up. And put in plants that feed. Bees, it's just. It's a sickness of mine you. Know I just want to keep doing it. But irrigation is a problem now because of the drought. TCAT plants aren't going to bother producing all that nectar if they're. They don't have water, you know. 

Professor Dosch: 

Yeah yeah, yeah. 

Catherine Grant: 

Anyway, I just. I would just keep on planting more plants. More and more and. More just feed as many bees as you can increase the population. And I think Macalester could do that. As well, but it. 

Ryan: 

Yeah, let's see. 

Catherine Grant: 

Does take some of the right people on the right? Space at the right time to agree to change. 

Professor Dosch: 

The plan. 

Zade: 

The importance of having the right people in the right places and making sure administration is on the same page as the maintenance crews was a big take away and was something we certainly found to be a point of emphasis going forward. 

Professor Schroeder: 

I think what we found is that it took a number of years for the administration to really notice what was happening with the pollinator path, and now our fonatur path is pretty. Ingrained in the culture of the administration with the help of the officers sustainability initiatives. That it's expanded beyond the purview of just. The biology department. But it took a while. To do that and. Nothing about the pollinator path since we started. It has been static, except maybe the signs, but the beds have changed. A palette of flowers has changed depending on what we found and. Literally what kind of pollinators we went to. 

Ryan: 

Yeah, it's kind of. It's like a living project. In that sense. I mean, it's plants, but it's also like a project that on its own, involves. 

Professor Schroeder: 

Right, right all these. 

Catherine Grant: 

Yeah, we started. 15 or 13 sites, and then we. Every few years, we'd re-evaluate. And change what our sites were we need to do new signs and all that stuff. 'cause we've, it's kind. Of it has shifted. But one of the key things is also if it's just student initiatives, then it does die when the students go away. There's no strikes. Structural change is important. And for us, the structural, the linkages you need is the people who. Do the gardening and the care and the. Maintenance have to be connected to the grounds people. And that's one of the hardest and I want I remember when I interviewed the person who was in charge of the Prairie at Carlton. A bunch of years ago. Like that was her her toughest thing was that he couldn't. Uhm, she they they were very. They talked very well together. They were at loggerheads. 'cause there's a culture of boring landscaping that's not ecologically valuable. That's that's that's what most campuses look like. I mean, most of our campuses, rocks, trees and shrubs, terrible lawns. Yeah, and yours is a little better. I think you had a sustainability plan a long time ago, and I think Doreen and I took a walk through your campus years ago when we were starting our pollinator path and I just found out some notes that I'd written about it and I can just tell by reading the landscape like what was going on, and but I think that you guys have a similar situation where you have. Your groundcrew Is not. Friendly to. It's not so much events. 

Professor Dosch: 

He left. 

Catherine Grant: 

You need to have the plants you need to have to support monitors. 

Ryan: 

Yeah, I think I think at. At Macalester right now, it's kind of very much an aesthetic focus. And not at all. The geological or broader focused not. 

Catherine Grant: 

And that doesn't have to be at. Odds with each other. I mean the main type of planning design that's the most popular now and the. Most sought after is. Is perennial based and. And campuses are just behind. They're just. Behind the times, that's all. But that's a whole other story. 

Ryan: 

To conclude, we. Learn that student initiative is an important first step, but after that it is important that longevity and permanence are introduced so that the garden projects can stick around past the graduation of the students who. Start to work. 

Zade: 

Hearing about the set up of garden spaces on the Saint Thomas campus was really interesting because it gave us great insight into how colleges can effectively interact with the environment. But we also wanted to hear from another nearby school, St Kates, which has a dedicated Prairie garden space and is a similar size to Macalester St Kates. As a campus has a very different feel than Macalester, it has lots of greenspace, ponds, wooded areas and gardens. All in all, it really doesn't feel like. You're in an urban environment at all. When you walk around there. We wanted to know how that contributed to students connections to natural spaces and how the native Prairie garden at Saint Kates is similar and or different to the one of callister. To help us. Answer these questions we got in touch with biology professor Rahul Roy and had a great discussion about what they have going on at. Saint Kates, unfortunately we weren't able to record this chat, but we definitely learned a lot and we discovered that St Kates is a great local example of what a successful native plant space can look like on a college campus. 

Ryan: 

Some of our key takeaways from our interview with Professor Roy were that there are truly special relationships between humans and nature that can't be replaced by anything. Garden spaces provide an opportunity for students to watch bees collect nectar. Gaze at flowers and plants, and watch an entire cycle of life play out before their very eyes. That is why it is an important. Emphasis is placed on creating these types of spaces for students which not only serve as a space where humans can maintain a certain. Aesthetic but nature can also maintain a status quo and successfully support the organisms within it. 

Zade: 

While St Kates does not have the same designated pollinator path that Macalester and Saint Thomas have, they instead have a really extensive garden area which is catered to pollinators. A unique part of the campus is the pollinators. 

Ryan: 

Are actually housed. 

Zade: 

Their beehives are kept on the roof of a campus building, which allows an entire ecosystem to play out before the eyes of all those watching on campus. 

Ryan: 

We learned from Professor Roy at Saint Kates student involvement and initiative is really the driving force behind not only the maintenance of these spaces, but also the future of these spaces. Student organizations such as The Biology Club create opportunities for students to become more involved while also learning about nature and having a positive impact on campus. An example of this is their honey collection, that they do in Ely, which serves as a great source of fundraising for the club as they collect honey, which is a big hit with the community. The honey isn't just a tasty treat, it's a conversation starter that got people talking about gardens and their importance on campuses we learned once again that it is students who must be the leaders for campus initiatives like this and that. St Kates is a great example of how that can successfully be done. 

Zade: 

Saint Kates isn't the only example. Example, where students are able to. Tangibly benefit from the products of gardens. Another great example of this is the University of Minnesota Native Medicine Garden, which is built around the principle of food sovereignty. Food sovereignty is defined as being able to support oneself or a community just based off of what the land has to offer. However, the changes to the environment have made this goal impossible at a natural level. For indigenous peoples changes towards intensive farming have forced native Minnesotans to look towards mass produced industry. Made products. 

Ryan: 

The shift in the. Traditional lifestyle of money has resulted in a health crisis and grief as a result of a lost way of being. Therefore, a solution is to implement gardens such as the one at the University of Minnesota, which has allows the garden visitors to take any medicinal or edible plants that they would like from the. Garden itself. This garden has allowed a small return to be made towards the way of life that used. To be a way. Of life that was sustainable and had spiritual meaning. For those who had traditionally inhabited this land. The connection that this land had to the people cannot simply be brushed aside on the Macalester campus, and a way to make this happen would be through natural spaces which emphasize that connection. So going forward, what can we do well? 

Zade: 

With the strategic. Planning conversations that have been going on. We are at a moment where change is going to be much. Easier than it has been in years past. Macalester is at a point where they have the resources and desire to enact change, and we see native Prairie spaces as a great option for. Macalester showed work to improve accessibility of the garden by adding a path and bench that encourages reflection and connection in the space. This needs to be done. This needs to be a path that is created with bio organic materials, like the wood chips that Professor Dausch suggested. Macalester also should expand to create other similar spaces around campuses around campus and allow for students to interact with them through forge. King Facility services shared with us via e-mail, but the long term goal is a 60% reduction in turf spaces. To be replaced with gardens. This metric is from the 2011 sustainability plan, and while they've made some progress, for example, South of the CC students collaborated with facilities to install 2 new plant beds. There is still a lot of work to be done. Facilities should look to make dedicated spaces with plants compatible. With student interaction. Much like the Umm garden and the state, the Saint Kates beekeeping works foraging spaces would give students a stake in the gardens and teach subsequent generations about the important connections we have with the land. Students would be able to see. Pollinators at work and understand. Through them, how gardens are whole ecosystems. Slowing down to observe these processes not only teaches it allows us to take an important break from the stress. Of day-to-day life. Additionally, expanding its accessibility and amounts of these spaces with foraging in mind advances the environmental justice principle of food sovereignty while also helping restore. Small parts of the land to the pre colonial state. This is a tangible action Macalester can take along with its land acknowledgments. 

Ryan: 

The number one thing that we found from all of our conversations. Is the importance of. Organized student involvement in these processes. Having student groups with organized organizational structure allows for their work to live on past. When people graduate in the past, there's spend some great work done here with rain gardens, but when those students left the space. Is left with them. Student organizations are a great way to ensure the longevity of work done and we have linked the merge instructions for how to create an org to on the website. Facility services said in their e-mail that organizations are more than welcome to help volunteer with garden spaces. And while facilities may have the final say when it comes to design, an organized group of Macalester students can definitely get themselves a seat at the table. A great idea that students at Saint Kates have been exploring is hosting events surrounding the garden. Spaces when their pollinator garden was open, they hosted a celebration and a concert that brought out a lot of the community and raised awareness among the student body. That would be a great way for students to be brought into the conversation surrounding the native plant garden here at Mac. We suggest that you check out the resources on the site here to. Learn more if. You're inspired, go ahead and grab their group of people to start impacting these types of changes yourself. 

Zade: 

Check out the rest. Of the website for some more information and the other case studies to learn more about environmental justice opportunities. If you want to explore the native plant garden behind Orion, we have an activity here. On the website where you can do so. Thanks for listening.