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photo by student Taylor Olsen

Why Campus Biodiversity matters

 As development increasingly expands into wild areas, the future of biodiversity will depend not just on conservation of species in more remote wild areas, but also on our ability to provide habitat in our cities. Cities can provide valuable habitat for the native plants, insects, reptiles, amphibians, small mammals, and birds that make up most of a region's total biodiversity. 

Cities have been shown to harbor high levels of native biodiversity. For example, one study of 110 cities found that almost all regional native plant and bird species were retained within the citiesthough native plants were found at only 25% of their original abundance, and birds were found at only 8% of their original abundance. 

Through the SRJC Campus Biodiversity Initiative, we will begin the task of documenting the biodiversity within our campuses, learn what has been retained, what has been lost, and contribute to creating and stewarding a campus that supports native plant diversity that will support the native insects and birds that depend upon them.

WHAT IS THE SRJC CAMPUS BIODIVERSITY INIATIVE?

The SRJC Campus Biodiversity Initiative is a collaboration between facuty, staff, students and community partners based within the SRJC Biology Department of the Santa Rosa Junior College, located in Santa Rosa, CA. With this program and website we hope to:
  • Provide information about the species found on campus, including species lists and photographs to increase awareness of and engagement with these species
  • Highlight past and current research done by individual students through internships and independent study
  • Showcase campus-based research and other educational initiatives taking place in our courses
  • Provide links to resources that promote urban biodiversity, including how community members can increase biodiversity in their own urban landscapes 
  • Coordinate campus stewardship events and biodiversity monitoring and research opportunities for students looking to gain new skills and knowledge
  • Create a space to highlight engagement with campus biodiversity by SRJC writers and artists​
PARTNERS:
  • Biology Department 
  • Environmental Horticulture Program
  • the Avanzando Initiative
  • SRJC Native American Center
  • SRJC American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES)
  • ​SRJC Biology Club
  • SRJC Environmental Sustainability Club
  • SRJC Inter-Tribal Student Union
  • SRJC Facilities Operations, Grounds​
  • SRJC Sustainability Committee
JOIN US:
This Initiative was launched in Fall 2024. We welcome partners from across the SRJC community who value the biodiversity and beauty of our campus.

Learn more about how to get involved:



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Species recorded on campus

We still have a long way to go in recording the wild and cultivated species found on campus. See how you can help document species on campus by visiting our Species page.
bird species
butterfly species
native bee genera

STEWARDSHIP WORKDAYS

We invite you to come join us for our next campus stewardship workday! Monthly stewardship workdays are on ​Fridays from 9-11:00. Meet outside of Baker Hall room 1805. ​Feel free to drop in; you don't need to stay for the full time. You can find more information on our Campus Stewardship page.  

2024/2025 Stewardship Workdays are:
October 18
November 15
December 13
January 31
February 21
March 28
April 18
May 16

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We acknowledge that we gather at Santa Rosa Junior College on the territorial traditional land of the Pomo People in Santa Rosa and the Coast Miwok People in Petaluma, past and present, and honor with gratitude the land itself and the people who have stewarded it throughout the generations. This land acknowledgement calls us to commit to continuing to learn how to be better stewards of the land we inhabit. 

We recognize that every member of the Santa Rosa Junior College community has benefitted, and continues to benefit, from the use and occupation of this land since the institution’s founding in 1919. Consistent with our values of community and diversity, we have a responsibility to acknowledge and make visible the colleges’ relationship to Native peoples. By offering this Land Acknowledgement, we affirm Indigenous sovereignty and will work to hold Santa Rosa Junior College more accountable to the needs of American Indian and Indigenous peoples.
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photo by student Elijah Lewin