Pollinator Habitat Advisory Committee

In an effort to further the goals of the Pitt Sustainability Plan, the University has created a diverse and interdisciplinary Pollinator Habitat Advisory Committee to help make our campus environment more supportive of healthy, native pollinator populations.

A subcommittee of the Chancellor’s Advisory Council on Sustainability, the University of Pittsburgh’s Pollinator Habitat Advisory Committee’s goals are to:

• Create and advise on the implementation a Campus Pollinator Habitat Plan, which sets guidelines for plant choices and landscaping practices
• Lead the University’s annual Bee Campus USA application through the Xerces Society.

Committee Members

Sarah Hart, Matthew Golub, & groundskeeper Steven Michael Siweckyj install bee homes on campus (June 2019)

• CO-CHAIR: Samantha Chan, Sustainability Projects Coordinator, Office of Sustainability
• CO-CHAIR: Meghan Orman, Doctoral Student, School of Education + Office of Child Development
• Dr. Tia-Lynn Ashman, Professor, Department of Biological Sciences
  
• Rachel Bowers, Planner, Facilities Management
• Sarah Cutshall, Undergraduate Student & Founder, Bee Friendly Pitt
• Allyson Frantz, Undergraduate & Founder, Relearn Our Land Initiative
• Juliana Hunt, Undergraduate & Founder, Relearn Our Land Initiative
• Julia Mascho, Sustainability Intern, Facilities Management
• Beth Ann Mayer, Undergraduate Student, Events Coordinator, Students for Sustainability
• Andy Moran, Senior Manager of Grounds, Facilities Management
• Dr. Aurora Sharrard, Executive Director of Sustainability, Office of Sustainability

• Economic Dependence and Vulnerability of United States Agricultural Sector on Insect-Mediated Pollination Service (Jordan et al. 2021)
• The best wildflowers for wild bees (Nichols et al. 2019)
• Considering the unintentional consequences of pollinator gardens for urban native plants: is the road to extinction paved with good intentions?  (Johnson et al. 2017)