A Campus with Buzz
UC Davis’ Annual Bee Campus Report
Bee Campus USA
What does it mean to be the first UC designated as a Bee Campus USA?
At University of California, Davis, pollinator conservation has moved from side-project to campus mission. The new annual report from the Bee Campus USA initiative underscores just how deeply the campus is investing in our pollinator allies.
Being a Bee Campus USA isn’t about planting a few wildflowers—it’s about transforming campus landscapes, curriculum, outreach and policy to work for pollinators. UC Davis was the first campus in the University of California system to earn this designation.
"As the nation’s leading school of agriculture, we are surrounded by experts in pollination ecology, pollinator plantings, bee foraging behavior, plant-pollinator interactions, bee health and more," says Arboretum and Public Garden GATEways Horticulturist Rachel Davis, committee chair of Bee Campus USA at UC Davis.
"Plus, we have large numbers of highly engaged students focused on everything from protecting the environment for pollinators to designing and creating habitats for them to thrive."
The report highlights dozens of habitat projects undertaken in 2024, hundreds of volunteers and thousands of participants in outreach events. The campus supported over 3 million square feet of new or enhanced pollinator habitat, involved around 425 students, staff and volunteers, and hosted about 55,000 attendees at pollinator-focused events.
Why celebrate this? Because pollinators matter. Their work underpins healthy ecosystems, food systems and landscapes. UC Davis’ commitment means students see theory in action, staff adapt real-world practices, and the public gets engaged through hands-on events. This initiative weaves education, ecology and community together.
There are still challenges ahead—ensuring new habitats connect into larger networks, sustaining effort over time, measuring ecological outcomes. But part of the point is that UC Davis is treating this as a long haul necessity, not just a check-box.
If you’re curious to dive deeper, read the full Bee Campus USA annual report. Let’s keep the buzz going!