University of St. Thomas
EN-4: Outreach Materials and Publications

The University's Office of Sustainability Initiatives has the following social media accounts:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/SustainableStThomas/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UST_OSI

The Pollinator Path at the University of St Thomas consists of a series of garden beds and planters that have been designated as “sites” because they have plantings that illuminate a particular lesson about the relationship between ornamental plants and pollinators. There are ten sites across campus, and each site has a sign that highlights up to three plants featured in that site. In addition, there are three introductory signs with boxes containing flyers with a map of the sites.

The signs also have a set of icons that are either grayed out or in green to show which types of pollinators are attracted to the flowers at this particular site: bumble and other native bees, honey bees, butterflies, moths, syrphid flies, and beetles. The sites with higher floral diversity and more Minnesota native plants have all of the icons in green, whereas a bed of daylilies has them all grayed out – showing that this ubiquitous garden plant does not provide pollen or nectar to pollinators. The signs also feature a “Path Fact” along the bottom – an easily grasped fact about pollinators, accompanied by a custom graphic illustrating that fact. These facts focus on the issues pertaining to the decline in bee populations, and information about bee habitat and habits, both for honey bees and Minnesota native bees.
https://cas.stthomas.edu/departments/areas-of-study/biology/facilities/pollinator-path/

Student leaders developed a series of self-guided tours which are available through a digital app. These self-guided tours are also used to host scavenger hunts to engage the campus community in learning about sustainability initaitives around campus. The topics of these self-guided tours include a St. Paul campus sustainability tour and a sustainability tour for winter on campus. Additional topics are under development.

The St. Thomas Pollinator Path also has a self-guided tour. St. Thomas Pollinator Path Map: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/2b818f98842b49cfbbfb36e679243695

The University of St. Thomas Guide to Sustainable Living provides learning and resources for leading a sustainable lifestyle at St. Thomas. It is updated each year and provided by Residence Life and the Office of Sustainability Initiatives. Guide to Sustainable Living at the University of St. Thomas: https://www.stthomas.edu/_media-library/_documents/residence-life/guide-to-sustainable-living.pdf

Residence Life partners with the Office of Sustainability Initiatives to provide sustainability-themed bulletin boards once per semester in first and second-year residence halls. Themes for the bulletin boards have included campus sustainability, living sustainability in the residence halls, and how to use the organics recycling containers in the residence halls.

The university also offers a first-year Sustainability Living Learning Community, where residents learn about sustainability together.