Introduction and general information:

Hello, we are Blue Team, out team consists of Joseph Carpenter, Vivek Sathyanarayanan, Travis Wolfe, Robert Nelson. we are currently working for Blue Marsh National Recreation Area to plant a garden to aid natural pollinators like Bees. Blue Marsh is a 1.800 square mile lake constructed and maintained by the US Army Corp of Engineers since 1978. Blue Marsh serves three vital functions for Berks county, first it has prevented numerous flooding events and has saves the county roughly 90 million dollars in flood damages. The lake and surrounding area also function as a large community attraction, often bringing over 900,000 visitors a year. Finally the park serves as a natural reserve for many different animal and insect species.

Service:

Our project was to create a pollinator garden with the hope of not only making the center more attractive but to also aid the bees in the area in bringing back their population. we spent several hours cleaning to garden hours by completing tasks such as weeding, and clearing dead brush. We then planned out and planted our pollinator garden, utilizing native species that would support the local bee population.

Research:

For our research we decided to focus on bee decline and how native gardens can help these insects, as bees begin to decline numerous problems come about. The most severe of these issues being the lack of plant pollination which will eventually lead to major impacts on food production effecting both humans and animals.luckily their are things that we can all do to help on the individual level.

Poster:

Video:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YQrRbX-joWLJ95z5W4gszlLFQYSo6a7s/view?usp=sharing

Reflection:

Concepts like pollution, environmental destruction, and the possible extinction of of a species seam like monumental task that no one person can stand against. however out team learn that this is not true over the course of our ECAP project. Over the course of a few short hours we were able to take a piece of dirt and turn it into a flourishing garden that will be able to support a species for years to come and may help them stave off extinction. Every one just contributed a few hours of their life, they alone can make a impact on the world around them.

Thank you:

We would like to thank Blue Marsh and Brianna Treichler our advisor, they were very flexible and accommodating and a blast to work with.