Pollinator Ambassadors

Since 2019, TPI has taught thousands of people why pollinators matter and how anyone can make a difference through small, simple actions like planting flower gardens. As demand for our programming increased and graduate presence declined, we were looking to grow our outreach capacity and magnify our impact by training new members to raise awareness for pollinators.

As a result, we created Pollinator Ambassadors: an environmental education and leadership program run by TPI and funded by Tufts Green Fund. By participating in the 8-session Pollinator Ambassadors program, the undergraduate students :

  • Learned the fundamentals of plant and pollinator science, land stewardship, and urban conservation
  • Built confidence in engaging with diverse community stakeholders
  • Developed scalable solutions to pressing environmental issues and witness the real-world impact of their work
  • Joined a network of passionate student leaders committed to urban conservation
  • Completed a minimum of 10 hours of service work through TPI channels

We trained 14 ambassadors who could then maintain involvement with TPI, volunteering their time to help table at events, participate in garden maintenance, and help stock our seed library. Check out our 2023 student projects page to see an example of a Pollinator Ambassadors project and to learn more about our seed library.

Team TPI and the Pollinator Ambassadors group
Jessie leads honey tasting with the ambassadors
Ambassadors Liana and Elsa helping run “build a pollinator” at the I Heart Science festival
Ambassador Luca tabling at Tufts Community Day

Syllabus

Session 1:  Welcome, expectations, pre-course survey

  • What is TPI?
  • Intro to pollination

Session 2: Why are there honey bees on rooftops?

  • Honey bee biology
  • “Save the bees?” Threats to pollinators

Session 3: One bee, two bee, red bee, blue bee

  • All about bumble bees
  • Solitary bees

Session 4: It’s a bug eat bug world—the carnivorous pollinators

  • Flower-visiting wasp
  • Hover flies

Session 5:  Where do butterflies go in winter?

  • Butterflies & moth diversity
  • Case: monarch butterflies

Session 6: Human dimensions of urban conservation

  • Gardening for pollinators
  • Bottom-up conservation

Session 7: Develop educational activity

Session 8: Present activity to group, post-course survey