SALEM, Va. – What’s now a lush meadow, used to be a pile of rubble on Roanoke College’s campus. It’s now home to native plants like Black-eyed Susans, blue vervain and mint.
“This was a landfill site that a demolished building was put into,” said Dr. Rachel Collins, a professor of biology and the director of the school’s Environment Center. “The more native plants you have, the more native animals you can have. So, in order to promote wildlife in this suburban landscape, we’re restoring this area.”
But the restoration didn’t happen overnight. Students came up with the idea back in 2020. Since then, the project has been awarded several grants, including $88,000 from the Virginia Environmental Endowment.
“This is really amazing the changes that have happened in just a couple of years,” said Collins. “What’s really exciting is to watch the students that get engaged in doing this work.”
Junior Nick Cook is one of those students. He spent the summer researching bats.
“For bats in Virginia, sadly, our populations are declining due to urbanization or due to disease. Many of our species are getting slowly wiped out,” said Cook. “That’s one of the main reasons why I was so interested in doing bats and trying to help grow their population again.”
Thanks to a $8,500 grant from the National Wildlife Federation and Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom, students were able to install bat, bee and owl boxes this summer to provide habitats for the native species to roost and reproduce.
“The students are the next generation of conservation leaders,” said Kristy Jones, the director of higher education programs for the National Wildlife Federation.
Collins said anyone can create a suburban wildlife oasis like this in their own backyard. Native plants contribute to healthy soil, which can help prevent flooding, runoff and keep chemicals out of our drinking water.
“These are species that feed on pests like insects and rodents,” said Collins. “So they have a place here to call their home and then they can go out into the suburban area and eat insects and rodents out of people’s yards.”
Collins hopes to inspire and educate the next generation of conservationists.
“A healthy ecosystem isn’t just good for animals,” said Jones. “Whatever the species is, it’s also important for humans as well.”