One group on campus is demonstrating how quickly the environment can change through renovations of a preexisting Pollinator Garden from 2025: the University of Idaho chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB), alongside the Student Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (SCASLA)..
“Within the Pollinator Garden, one of our major accomplishments has been establishing a space filled with native Palouse plants. This creates a functioning ecosystem that supports local wildlife while also providing opportunities for education and community engagement,” stated Zoe Doerr, secretary of SCB for the 2026-27 academic year. “Our next project is to add new garden beds, which we hope to fund through grants, to expand the garden and increase its diversity. Outside of the garden, we have built community connections through projects such as the torii gates, where study abroad students visiting campus contribute artwork that becomes part of the garden space.”
At the beginning of this school year, the Pollinator Garden collaborated with students from Hiroshima University to construct a second torii gate within the garden as a lasting art installation that is “meant to symbolize the history and relationship between Hiroshima University and UI” as reported by Kevan Mitchell in a previous article from The Argonaut, “Hiroshima University mega-exchange students visit UI Campus.”
President of SCB Club, Tallulah Stafford, elaborated on recent projects that have been vital to the garden’s continued growth and thriving success, specifically mentioning a recent event in which “[SCB] planted 300 plants on Saturday with the help of community volunteers… We had been growing these plants with the help of Eli Chase, former SER (Society for Ecological Restoration Student Association) president, in the Pitkin Forest Nursery for months and were so excited to get them in!”
Tallulah also clarified the current goals of the garden and what it has achieved so far, stating that the “pollinator garden has added native Palouse prairie species back into the landscape. Though we are small, we hope to act as a pollinator rest stop for the native species that call this place home… Providing students with the experience of seeing this habitat and working in it is a great way to foster a love for conservation within them and is seen by the many amazing volunteers that show up for us.”
Besides more common plants such as Barley, Sunflowers, and Buckwheat, garden collaborators are also excited about the addition of a lesser known plant that is essential to the lives and migration habits of one type of butterfly in specific: the Monarch Butterfly.
As mentioned by Tallulah, “Milkweed was added in hopes to bring Monarch Butterflies back to this area in higher numbers as it is an important plant in their life cycle,” an addition that, if successful, will surely be a welcome bonus to the lively natural environment of UI. With all the conservation efforts going on within the Pollinator Garden, UI, as well as the general Moscow area, provides plenty of other avenues students can pursue to support conservation in the area outside of the garden.
Tallulah stated: “If you are a student, sites like Engage and GivePulse are great places to start if you want to find volunteer conservation work. If you want to work in conservation, there are often internship opportunities through environmental organizations like the Department of Environmental Quality. Utilizing resources like Career Services on campus is also a great way to hear about job opportunities. Working within different departments for university researchers can also give you the opportunity to do conservation work close to school.”
For students looking to get hands-on experience within the Pollinator Garden, Zoe was happy to provide information regarding what SCB can provide as well.
“Students can get involved through our club and by participating in activities within the pollinator garden. We share volunteer opportunities, events, and project updates through our Instagram page and university channels, making it easy for students to learn about ways to contribute to conservation efforts on campus.”
Cooper Mollinego can be reached at [email protected].