Dr. Kathy Chatfield has been recognized for her outstanding efforts toward improving digital learning at Clark College.
Chatfield, who leads the college’s eLearning and instructional design department, has received the Ron Legon Leadership Award for Quality Digital Education bestowed by Quality Matters and MarylandOnline. The award is reserved for singular contributors to the mission of continuous improvement in digital learning.
Quality Matters is an international leader for quality assurance in online and innovative digital teaching and learning environments. Chatfield is among five award recipients who have demonstrated an exceptional dedication to quality in digital learning.
Chatfield’s work of improving online experiences for students includes building sustainable quality assurance processes at the institutional level. Clark College began offering online classes in 2005. Online classes were the first to fill and the first to put students on a waitlist.
Quality Matters stated: “The Ron Legon award acknowledges the impact Chatfield’s leadership has had on faculty, staff, students and the educational landscape at large through her steadfast devotion to the pursuit of quality assurance.”
In their recognition, Quality Matters added: “Chatfield represents a strong voice at both the college and state levels, where she helps sustain support for the importance of quality standards in online learning. At Clark College, she works to maintain the culture of professional development she has built among the institution’s faculty. As a member of the Washington State eLearning Council, she has championed statewide adoption of effective policy on digital learning.”
“I am very honored to have been selected as the recipient of this year’s Leadership Award for Quality Digital Education,” Chatfield said. “The rigor and dedication to quality that is involved in education and peer-reviewed course design through the Quality Matters organization inspires us to always strive for better, stay on a path of continuous improvement and seek greatness in our students’ learning. I am proud to represent Clark College in this endeavor.” Chatfield will accept her award at a ceremony during the QM Connect Conference Nov. 5-8 at the Radisson Blu Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. She has been asked to speak about what the award means to her.
“I’m diligently working on my speech,” Chatfield said. “My aim is to inspire others to leadership in eLearning and to recognize Clark College as being a leader, itself, in this field.”
Chatfield has served in higher education for 34 years at eight institutions. She has worked at Clark College since January 1995. She has taught part-time in person and online. She has served full-time in the eLearning and Instructional Design department since 2006.
About Quality Matters
Quality Matters is a global organization leading quality assurance in online and innovative digital teaching and learning environments. It provides a scalable quality assurance system for online and blended learning used within and across organizations. QM certification marks on courses or programs means they have met QM course design standards or QM program review criteria in a rigorous review process. Learn more at here.
Fulbright Scholar
Congratulations to Clark College adjunct piano instructor Melissa Espindola Terrall, who recently received a Fulbright grant for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Melissa will travel to Mexico to study and conduct research in piano at Conservatorio Nacional in Mexico City. Her research will focus on Mexican classical piano repertoire as she works to publish an anthology of music from this era. While abroad, Terrall will also perform recitals featuring the work of Mexican and American composers.
The Fulbright program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between Americans and people of other countries. The U.S. Student Fulbright program operates in more than 160 countries worldwide. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected based on academic or professional achievement, as well as their record of service and demonstrated leadership in their respective fields. Fulbright grants provide funding for round-trip travel, maintenance for one academic year, health and accident insurance and, where relevant, tuition.
Terrall lives in Portland. She earned a master’s degree in piano performance from the University of Kansas in 2022.
The Mathematics Department is excited to announce the recipients of this year’s Sigma Scholarship. This scholarship was established in summer of 2020 to support and encourage students who are traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields to pursue higher-level mathematics.
Congratulations to our 2023 Sigma Scholarship recipients:
Abou Bakar Berthe
STEM field: Mining Engineering
2023-24: Clark College
Oliver Rosas
STEM field: Civil Engineering
2023-24: Clark College
Spencer Henwood
STEM field: Computer Science
2023-24: Portland State University
Isaac Osorio Beltran
STEM field: Computer Science or Engineering
2023-24: Clark College
Post and photos contributed by Kayoko Barnhill
Dental Hygiene
Bachelor of Applied Science in Dental Hygiene, Class of 2023.
Congratulations to the 24 seniors of Clark College’s Dental Hygiene program, who presented their community oral health group projects via Zoom on June 5.
Over the course of eight months, students worked with various community groups to create and implement oral health projects for an identified need in that group. They assisted oral health patients at Kamlu Retirement Inn, Washington State School for the Blind, Clark College Child & Family Studies, SeaMar Community Health Centers Women’s Clinic, and Truewood Senior Living. The presentations via Zoom presented the group they worked with, the project they created and implemented, and what they learned.
Students get ample hands-on experience in the Firstenburg Dental Hygiene Education and Care Center on the college’s main campus. Under the direct supervision of licensed dental hygienists and dentists, students provide affordable dental care for more than 2,000 patients from the community annually.
“This year’s senior class has worked diligently to gain all the skills needed to work in our community to improve oral and overall health,” said Kristi Taylor, Dental Hygiene department chair and program director. “I am proud of each of them for their perseverance and dedication to learning the profession and providing compassionate care to our community.”
Professor Taylor added that the job placement rate for Clark’s Dental Hygiene graduates is 100%. Many of the graduating seniors already have been offered a position or have accepted a position.
Student Projects:
Group 1: Stephanie D., Aria B., Valentyna S., Ilona S., Arnoldo P.
Project: Community Oral Health Project with Older Adults (age 60+)
Description: Provide oral and systemic health education for residents (age 60+) at Kamlu Retirement Inn
Group 2: Lauren D., Rebecca H., Andrea A., Jennifer G., and Stephanie B.
Project: Community Oral Health Project with Visually Impaired Adolescents
Description: Provide oral health education and nutrition information for visually impaired adolescents at the Washington State School for the Blind
Group 3: Nicole F., Mackenzie C., Ceaira J., Savannah G., Mallary V.
Project: Community Oral Health Project with Children Ages 2-6
Description: Provide oral health and nutrition education for children ages 2-6 at Clark College Child & Family Studies
Group 4: Arghawan P., Sophia A., Caroline W., Ellie C., Brittany J.
Project: Community Oral Health Project with Pregnant Women
Description: Provide oral health and nutrition education for pregnant women at SeaMar Community Health Centers Women’s Clinic
Group 5: Alvina S., Arielle R., Chime L., Hyemi P.
Project: Community Oral Health Project with Older Adults
Description: Provide oral and systemic health education for residents at Truewood Senior Living community
About Clark College’s Dental Hygiene program
Competitive 7-term program, with 61-64 units required prior to entry; total of 184-unit program
Bruce Elgort, a professor in Clark College’s Computer Technology department, was granted tenure unanimously by the Clark College Board of Trustees on May 24.
Tenure is awarded by the college’s trustees based on professional excellence and outstanding abilities in their disciplines. The granting of tenure is based on the recommendations of tenure reviews committees to the vice president of instruction, which are then forwarded to the president, who presents a final recommendation to the Board of Trustees. Recommendations are based on evaluations by the faculty member being considered, the tenure review committee, students, supervisors, and peers. The final decision to award or withhold tenure rests with the Board of Trustees.
Bruce Elgort earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree in electrical engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey. He earned his Master of Science in engineering management from New York University, New York.
Experience in the field
Prior to teaching, Bruce worked for more than three decades in the field, including Elguji Software (founder/CEO); Sharp Microelectronics (strategic business operations, IT manager), and Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. (office services and IT manager, manager of marketing and communications, and electrical engineer). In addition, he was an independent international consultant for more than a dozen clients including Price Waterhouse Cooper, US Social Security Administration, US Department of Agriculture, Washington State Department of Transportation, Honda and more. Bruce is recognized by IBM and Amazon Web Services for being an innovative thought leader in cloud and artificial intelligence technologies.
Bruce joined Clark College in 2012 as a Computer Technology instructor. He serves on the Universal Design committee and Advanced Manufacturing committee. He is called on by staff and faculty as an accessibility expert. Bruce has received the Exceptional Faculty Award twice.
Teaching philosophy
You’ll find this technology professor working hard to inspire and challenge his students with meaningful web development and programming experiences. Bruce loves to tinker and test the boundaries of existing and emerging technologies, to then guide hungry minds through memorable, educational journeys to showcase with passion the ever-evolving innovations of society.
Photos provided by Bruce Elgort
New tenured professors
Left to right: Marisol Moreno Ortiz, Tanya Diaz-Kozlowski, Thomas Olsen, Kathryn Anastasi, Amy VahnDijk, Jesse Kysar, Alejandra Maciulewicz-Herring, and Wade (William) Hausinger.
Nine outstanding educators were granted tenure unanimously by the Clark College Board of Trustees. They were honored at a college reception on May 16. These newly tenured faculty members are:
Katy Anastasi, Libraries
Dr. Tanya Diaz-Kozlowski, Women’s Studies
Wade Hausinger, Welding
Mark Keats, English
Jesse Kysar, Engineering
Alejandra Maciulewicz-Herring, Medical Assisting
Marisol Moreno Ortiz, Libraries
Tom Olsen, Digital Media Arts
Amy VahnDijk, Nursing
Tenure is awarded by the college’s Board of Trustees based on professional excellence and outstanding abilities in their disciplines. The granting of tenure is based on the recommendations of tenure review committees to the vice president of instruction, which are then forwarded to the president, who presents a final recommendation to the Board of Trustees. Recommendations are based on self-evaluations, tenure review committee evaluations, student evaluations, supervisory evaluations, and peer evaluations. The final decision to award or withhold tenure rests with the Board of Trustees.
Katy Anastasi, Libraries
Katy Anastasi earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in American studies from Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota and her Master of Library and Information Studies from Queens College (City University of New York) in New York City. She began her career working in community college libraries in 2018 as an adjunct librarian and Open Educational Resources (OER) fellow at Borough of Manhattan Community College. After moving to Oregon in 2019, she began working at Portland State University as a reference librarian and OER publishing assistant.
Katy joined Clark College in Fall 2020 as a tenure-track reference and instruction librarian. She co-leads Clark College’s OER steering committee and serves on the library’s user experience committee, as well as the Clark College Faculty Excellence Award committee. Since 2020, she has worked collaboratively with faculty, staff, and students to develop culturally relevant academic library collections and library services for incarcerated students and their instructors at Larch Corrections Center. She received Clark’s Faculty Excellence Award in 2022.
Tanya Diaz-Kozlowski, Ph.D., Women’s Studies
Tanya Diaz-Kozlowski earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from the University of Wisconsin Parkside, Kenosha, Wisconsin in 2001 and her Master of Science degree in college student personnel from Eastern Illinois University, Charleston in 2003. She earned her Ph.D. in education policy, organization and leadership with a focus in social and cultural foundations coupled with certificates in gender and women’s studies and Latino/a studies from The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2015. She supervised, advised, and mentored students and co-created programs in residential life, Greek life, orientation, and cultural programs at Eastern Illinois University and at The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 2001-2008.
Tanya has diverse experiences teaching and advising undergraduate and graduate students, creating department level curricula and assessments, and teaching interdisciplinary undergraduate/graduate courses in gender, women’s, and sexuality studies and Latinx studies from teaching, advising, and mentoring students at Illinois State University and The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Over the last three years, Tanya has published peer-reviewed articles in The Association of Mexican American Educators Journal, The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education, and The Journal of Lesbian Studies.
Tanya started teaching at Clark College in Fall 2020. She completed the Teaching Squares program in 2021 and the college’s BUILD Program in 2022, a yearlong employee development program providing intensive training in power, privilege, and inequality.
William (Wade) Hausinger, Welding Technology
Wade Hausinger has worked in the welding industry for his entire career. He first learned welding, drafting and blueprint reading as an Evergreen High School student. At Clark College he earned his GED and completed leadership skills training. He has worked in the welding industry since 1989 and was certified for industry-related professional training on the job. He starting as a welding fabricator and working his way up to pipe fitter/welder, pipe shop foreman, shop welding foreman, and metal fabrication foreman. His former employers include Christensen Shipyard, Electro, Cascade General Shipyard and GI Welding.
Wade began teaching welding at Clark College in 2017 as an instructional technician and became an instructor the following term. He made tenure track in 2020.
Mark Keats, English
Mark L. Keats earned his Associate of Arts degree in English from Howard Community College. He then earned a Bachelor of Arts in Japanese language and literature and a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from the University of Maryland, College Park. He began teaching at Howard Community College and taught for six years before returning to graduate school, where he earned a Ph.D. in literature and creative writing from Texas Tech University. He taught for one year at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas before accepting a job at Clark College.
He began teaching at Clark College Fall 2020 as a tenure track candidate. He currently serves on the literature committee. He has participated in English and campuswide professional development and training.
Jesse Kysar, Engineering
Jesse Kysar earned an Associate of Science Transfer degree in physics at Lower Columbia College in 2011. He transferred to Washington State University in Pullman, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and a Bachelor of Science degree in material science and engineering, both in 2014.
While he was enrolled at WSU, he worked as a student researcher. After he graduated, he worked as an engineer I, industrial applications at nLight, which produces high-power semiconductor lasers and fiber lasers. He also worked as a mechanic and heavy equipment operator in the construction industry.
Jesse began teaching at Clark College as an adjunct faculty member in Fall 2018, then worked as temporary full-time faculty before starting his tenure journey in 2020. In addition to teaching in the engineering department, he also teaches materials science in the welding department. At Clark, he serves as the department lead in program outcomes assessment. He is one of two faculty experts on the advanced manufacturing curriculum leadership team.
Alejandra Maciulewicz-Herring, Medical Assisting
Alejandra Maciulewicz-Herring earned her Associate of Arts degree in pre-nursing at Clark College. She also earned a Certificate of Proficiency, medical assistant, Concorde Career College, Portland; Certificate of Proficiency, emergency medical technician, Linn-Benton Community College, Albany, Oregon; and an American Association of medical assistant certification.
Her career in the healthcare industry includes working as a medical assistant, pediatrics medical assistant, and an administrative medical assistant in internal family medicine, physical therapy, and pediatrics clinics. Her former employers include Allergy Clinic, Internal Family Medicine, Columbia Asthma & Allergy, Creekside Medical, Stargait Physical Therapy, and Miller’s Family Pediatrics.
Alejandra began teaching full time at Clark College in Fall 2020. She is involved with outreach events to promote the college’s Allied Health programs.
Marisol Moreno Ortiz, Libraries
Marisol Moreno Ortiz earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Oregon State University in Corvallis, a Master of Arts in English from Portland State University in Portland, and a Master of Library and Information Science from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisianna. Before entering her full-time library position at Clark College, Marisol worked part time at the library at Linn-Benton Community College, where she also taught information literacy and supported student learning.
Marisol began her current full-time position at Clark College as reference and instruction librarian in Fall 2020. She serves on a tenure committee and is a supportive member of the OER steering committee. Marisol is a mental health advocate, privacy advocate, and focuses on diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice in librarianship.
Thomas Olsen, Jr., Digital Media Arts
Thomas Olsen, Jr., earned his Bachelor of Science degree in political science from the University of Oregon, Eugene, and his Master of Fine Arts degree in film and television production (emphasis in film and television producing) from Chapman University, Orange, California. He is a documentary film producer through his company Anchor Pictures. Thomas also has taught at Portland Community College, Portland State University, Warner Pacific University, and The Art Institute of Portland.
Thomas began teaching at Clark College in Fall 2020 as a tenure-track professor. He serves as the advisor for the college’s Cinema Club and on the digital media arts advisory board. Thomas also volunteers for the Cannon Beach Historical Society and Museum.
Amy VahnDijk, Nursing
Amy VahnDijk earned her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing at Washington State University Vancouver and her Doctor of Nursing Practice as a family nurse practitioner at Washington State University. Before entering the teaching profession, she worked as a family nurse practitioner at The Vancouver Clinic. Amy has more than a decade of professional nursing experience.
Amy began teaching at Clark College in 2020 as a tenure track tenure candidate. She currently serves on the nursing library committee and nursing tenure track hiring committee.
Photo: Clark College/Jenny Shadley
Model UN team earns honors
Clark’s Model UN Team: Lanie Smith, Professor Joseph Cavalli, Model UN program director, Tammy Pham, Kathryn Johnston, Kaden Bartley, Casey Figone and David Goebel
Clark College’s Model United Nations team earned honors at the 72nd session of Model United Nationals of the Far West, A Force for Good: Global Health and Development for a Sustainable Future from April 21-25 at Whittier College in Burlingame, California. Clark competed against 29 other colleges, most of them four-year institutions. See a list of all participating colleges and their assignments here.
Model UN activities were on hiatus during the COVID pandemic.
“It’s been three long agonizing years since the last Model UN Far West,” said Professor Joseph Cavalli, Model UN program director at Clark. “I am ecstatic to report that your Clark College MUN team won honors this this year, picking up where we left off in 2019. This year, in a highly competitive field, Clark College represented Malta and Vietnam.”
Topics included promoting the safe use of nuclear technology in the eradication of marine microplastics, protecting civilians—especially those with disabilities—in combat zones, and human rights and unilateral coercive measures such as sanctions.
Model United Nations is a simulation program in which hundreds of thousands of students worldwide participate in model sessions of the United Nations to advance their understanding of the principles and means by which international relations are maintained.
Clark’s student delegates recognized
“Special kudos go student delegates Kathryn Johnston, Lanie Smith, and Casey Figone,” said Professor Cavalli. “All three received the Mike McBride Outstanding Resolution Certificate Third Committee for their position paper on UCMs (unilateral coercive measures).”
Additionally, Kathryn Johnston and Lanie Smith were selected to chair committees at the MUNFW conference in 2024.
Professor Cavalli added, “Lanie was asked to chair one of the most challenging committees in the MUN universe, the Security Council. This is a big, big deal. Chairing a committee at MUNFW has always been the exclusive purview of the elite California universities as well as Arizona State and University of Arizona respectively. Keep in mind 95% of the student delegates competing are political science and prelaw majors.”
He added that on Clark’s Model UN Team, “Lanie, Kathryn, and Casey are physics, engineering, and computer science majors respectively. It is nice to see STEM mix it up with the liberal arts.”
In February, Clark’s Model UN team attended the NW Model UN Conference in Portland, its first in-person conference since the pandemic. Clark’s team represented Japan, Kenya, and Latvia. Topics included sustainable mountain development, Human Rights Council periodic reviews of Haiti, Japan and Israel as well as nonproliferation regarding the situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Two of Clark’s Model UN team members had been chosen to serve as leaders for the Portland conference. Casey Figone was Assistant Secretary-General of Conference Services. Lani Smith was Director of the Security Council, a much coveted position.
Or rather, one “Little Penguin” rocket flew on April 28, with the help of four Clark Aerospace students.
Every spring, the college’s Aerospace program travels to the scrappy sagebrush landscape of Brothers, Oregon, a premier launch site for high-altitude rocket projects, 40 miles east of Bend. Their mission: Launch the rockets they have built during the academic year.
Clark’s team arrived in two cars filled with rockets, tools, four students, and Xiunu “Sophie” Lin, physics professor and director of Clark’s Aerospace Program.
First, student Tyler Lawrence launched his rocket, and it was safely recovered. This achievement marked Tyler’s L1 High Power Rocket Certification.
Great outcome!
Next, the team launched their rocket, dubbed “Little Penguin,” which is 12 feet long, 5 inches in diameter and weighing about 45 pounds. According to the team’s simulations, the rocket with an M-1939 motor could potentially reach a high point of about 16,000 feet (called “apogee” in rocket lingo).
Little Penguin: All Systems Go!
Following a simple countdown, the team launched Little Penguin around 5 p.m. Wow, did that Little Penguin fly!
Professor Lin said, “It took off with tremendous power, producing a shock wave that could be felt 500 feet away from the launch site. The rocket soared straight into the blue sky with a beautiful straight line before disappearing.”
After a rocket is launched, it’s crucial for the team to follow its trajectory visually, so they later can find where it lands. When they lose sight of a rocket, the team uses a radio receiver to follow the signal of a radio tracker attached to the rocket’s nose cone.
But the signal they picked up was weak, indicating that the rocket must have drifted far from the launch site. The students, Professor Lin and the team’s mentor, Jack Caynon started driving, and stopping every few minutes to check the signals and direction before driving forward.
After driving for an hour or two, they eventually picked up a stronger signal. It came from a sagebrush-covered field behind a barbed wire fence. The sun had already set. The team crawled beneath the fence and walked uphill for a mile, where they found Little Penguin 11 miles northeast of the launch site.
Little Penguin broke Clark’s record
From left to right: Ethan Lloyd Walters; Samuel Remus Banceu; Tyler James Lawrence (team leader); Jackie L. Caynon (the team mentor); Xiunu Sophie Lin (program director); Vyacheslav Timofeyevich Lukiyanchuk
Keith Stansbury, the prior director of the college’s Aerospace program, said “an 11-mile recovery is a record for Clark. Eleven miles and we got it back! Phenomenal!”
“Recovering the rocket 11 miles from the launch site is almost a miracle,” said Professor Lin. “The recovery may not have been successful on our very first flight test, but we collected our first set of flight data to analyze and improve our rocket for future flights.”
The team examined the errant Little Penguin and discovered that an insufficient weld led to the bulkhead detaching from the fin cans, causing the rocket to drift in strong winds. The team plans to scrutinize the flight data to glean further insight.
Their next mission: competing at the SpacePort America Cup competition, the world’s largest intercollegiate rocket engineering conference and competition, held June 19-24 in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
“Our students learned good lessons from this flight,” said Professor Lin. “The perseverance they showed during the search of the rocket was impressive and amazing. As a team, we are determined to fail as many times as necessary before we can succeed at the SpacePort America Cup competition.”
Art student Lizette Torson winner of best painting with Grant Hottle chair of art department.
Archer Gallery was buzzing as dozens of student artists stood in front of their creations and talked to art appreciators about their work.
The opening reception and awards ceremony for the Art Student Annual exhibition of Clark College art students drew students, faculty, staff, family members and the community.
Although the gallery’s student art show returned to an in-person event last year, it was subdued. This year, it was noisy. The space was filled with conversations and people connecting over art.
“This is the first student art exhibit that feels like we’re back,” said Grant Hottle, art department chair. “We have an astonishing level of work here. Our art faculty are great. We have an extraordinary group of students who work hard.”
There were 150 submissions of student work for this year’s show; 65 pieces were chosen, said Archer Gallery Director Kendra Larson. Students created their work in the past year. Their art professors curated the work.
“The strength and breath of this artwork reflects the hard work, dedication, and unique voices of our amazing Clark Students,” said Larson. “It was a fun celebration of all the art students and their hard work.”
Artwork will be on display from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday until the closing reception on June 9.
Awards prizes were provided by Blick Art Materials, Georgies Ceramics and Clay, Gamblin Paint, Clay Art Center, PICA, McClain’s Printmaking, Collage, ProPhoto Supply, and Blue Moon Camera and Machine.
Student Syd Ness with his award-winning digital art.
Award Winners
The awards juror was Prudence Roberts, writer, curator, and art historian. Here are her choices:
Most Ambitious – Samantha Garcia Ortiz, for “Wine & Cheese Glasses Master Study”
Solo Show Award – Lissette Torson
Most Poignant – Syd Ness, for “Self Portrait”
Best in Photography – Richard Cole, for “This Too shall Pass”
Second in Photography – Tahnee Calderon Hernandez, for “Win a Prize”
Third in Photography – Julia Smook, for “Lab”
Best in Drawing – Colin Johnson, for “A Quiet Place”
Second in Drawing – Chelsie Cannon, for “10 things I Thought Were Good Ideas at the Time”
Best in Painting – Lissette Torson, for “Growth”
Second in Painting – Juan Carlos Garcia, for “Civilization”
Best in Ceramics – Denise Ostlund, for “Beyond Belief #2”
Photos: Clark College/Susan Parrish
Clark College newly certified by Bee Campus USA
Have you heard the latest buzz?
Just in time for Earth Day, Clark College was certified as an affiliate of the Bee Campus USA program on April 20, joining 165 other college campuses and 179 cities across the country united to make their landscape attractive to pollinators.
“Through a variety of sustainability initiatives, college students, faculty, and staff have championed creating environmentally friendly campuses,” said Clark College President, Dr. Karin Edwards. “I was fortunate to help sow wildflower seeds on campus in early spring. I anticipate that we will be enjoying beautiful native wildflowers—and seeing more bees on campus—in the coming months.”
Biology Professor Steven Clark is coordinating the college’s Bee Campus initiative and has led the college in laying groundwork, such as planting native wildflowers, to make the campus more attractive to bees and other pollinators.
“Bee Campus helps bees because we provide food and habitat for bees,” Clark said. “But it may help humans more because we learn how to live in harmony with nature.”
Pollinators—including mason bees, bumblebees, butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, and hummingbirds are essential for the planet. They are responsible for the reproduction of almost 90% of the world’s flowering plant species and 30% of our food.
As part of the college’s Bee Campus initiative, it is offering opportunities for student research and service learning. Faculty, staff, and students have worked together to study and create pollinator habitat with native plants.
As a certified Bee Campus, Clark College will offer education to students and community members about the region’s native pollinators, potentially via biology labs, community science research contributions, environmental science service learning, Continuing Ed seminars, and Bee Units offered to nearby elementary schools.
During Clark’s Take Your Child to Work Day event on April 27, he led a group of college employees and their children on a bee walk just outside the front door of the STEM Building. Within minutes the kids were identifying and counting mason bees, bumblebees and more.
Professor Clark will teach two Clark College community education courses focused on bees and their habitat. Bee Walks and Bee Lives begins May 26. Bee Walks and Bee Biology begins June 6. Both courses include classroom time followed by a “bee walk” around campus.
Bee City USA and Bee Campus USA are initiatives of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, a Portland-based nonprofit. Bee City USA’s mission is to galvanize communities and college campuses to sustain pollinators by providing healthy habitat, rich in a variety of native plants that are free of pesticides.
