Ecology students Jeff Wagner and Chris Ebert want to make a difference on the LCCC campus. “Jeff and Chris came to me with a plan,” said Biology and Environmental Science Faculty member Ruby Beil, “to develop a Hummingbird and Butterfly Habitat Garden on campus. I was in full support of their idea.”
Beil had done similar service learning projects with her students off campus at the Metro Parks and Lorain County Head Start. This project is personal though. “We are all about trying to green up the campus in many different ways,” said Beil. LCCC has a Green Campus Task Force that is made up of faculty, staff and students. The Habitat Garden was the group’s first big project. “I love the way the garden and our task force has people thinking and the students engaged,” said LCCC employee Carol Cornett. Cornett is a member of the Green Task Force. She would like to see an herb vegetable garden planted too. “This is just the beginning,” Cornett added.
The garden site, which is located between the Campana Engineering Building and the Stocker Arts Center, was handpicked by the LCCC Physical Plant Department. The
Habitat Garden was funded by the biology department.
The highlighted plant species in the garden include a red bud tree, service berry, witch hazel, milkweed, tickseed, Rose of Sharon, creeping thyme and dianthus, bee balm and cat mint. There are more plants coming soon. “We hope,” said Beil, “the garden improves our quality of life by restoring a natural habitat, enhancing biodiversity and becomes a teaching and learning tool.”
For more information about Service Learning at Lorain County Community College, click here.
If you are interested in more information on gardening projects at LCCC, please contact Ruby Beil at 1-800-995-5222 (ext 7222). For more information on the Green Campus Task Force, please contact Laura Carissimi at 1-800-995-5222 (ext 7788).