Pollinator 
populations 

across the country have been 

experiencing significant losses, 

threatening 
biodiversity, 

agriculture and food chains. The 

state of Michigan alone has seen a 

61% drop in its bee population over 

the span of 15 years. A team of 

masters students at the University 

of 
Michigan’s 
School 
for 

Environment and Sustainability 

is aiming to raise awareness 

for pollinator conservation and 

enhance pollinator habitats on 

campus.

Thanks in part to the work of 

the team, dubbed “SEAS Bees,” 

the 
University 
was 
officially 

designated a bee-friendly campus 

in December by Bee Campus USA, 

an initiative of the Xerces Society 

for 
Invertebrate 
Conservation 

which recognizes colleges and 

universities practicing sustainable 

pollinator conservation across the 

country.

Sheila 
Schueller, 
academic 

program specialist at SEAS and 

project advisor for the team, told 

The Michigan Daily pollinators 

are essential to life on Earth. 

Humans rely on pollinators for 

75% of staple crops and 90% of all 

flowering plants.

“We 
definitely 
depend 
on 

pollinators 
in 
many 
ways,” 

Schueller said. “There are studies 

that show with pollinator declines, 

malnutrition can occur because 

you see changes in diets, especially 

in developing countries.”

Environment and Sustainability 

postdoctoral 
fellow 
Michelle 

Fearon told The Daily habitat 

loss and a decline in pollinator 

populations are directly correlated 

with climate change.

“Many pollinator species — 

particularly native bee species — 

have been declining due to loss of 

habitat,” Fearson said. “It’s one of 

the primary concerns along with 

increasing spread of disease and 

pesticide use and the interaction of 

many of these factors. With climate 

change, we’re seeing changes in the 

timing of when different species 

and flower species emerge, so that 

can also lead to mismatch and this 

can very rapidly lead to either local 

extinctions of either the bees or 

the native plant species.”

As temperatures rise across 

the world, growing and blooming 

seasons have shifted by half 

a day each year, resulting in 

unpollinated 
plants 
and 
bees 

without food. Bee colonies have 

also begun to experience colony 

collapse disorder — a phenomenon 

in which bees abandon their hives 

due to emerging diseases — which 

has created a spike in disease 

among the species.

Global 
warming 
has 
also 

affected the integral processes 

of 
other 
pollinators, 
altering 

the 
migratory 
patterns 
of 

butterflies, 
body 
temperatures 

of hummingbirds and ultrasonic 

hearing in bats.

Schueller said the diverse array 

of species that are classified as 

pollinators play a significant role 

in maintaining biodiversity in 

communities across the world.

On a snowy Monday morning, 

The Michigan Daily sat down with 

University President Santa Ono to talk 

about his recent inauguration, new 

residence halls, contract negotiations 

with 
the 
Graduate 
Employees’ 

Organization and what it would take 

for him to call a snow day.

This interview has been edited and 

condensed for clarity.

The 
Michigan 
Daily: 
Your 

inauguration just happened. How 

does it feel to be inaugurated?

Santa Ono: The inauguration isn’t 

about me. It’s about a chapter in the 

life of the University. I happen to be 

the person who is in that seat during 

this period of time. It’s a celebration 

of what we have been, but more of a 

conversation about where we want to 

go moving forward — who we want 

to be. That’s what’s exciting about 

the inauguration. It’s a moment to 

pause and take stock of who we are, 

how we’re doing and what we can do 

moving into the future.

TMD: What was that day like 

from your perspective?

SO: It was fun. It was just an 

amazing day. And I was so excited 

that it began with two symposia 

based on two things that the 

University is focused on and that 

matter a lot to me: climate change 

and sustainability and the Inclusive 

History Project — what’s happened 

on this campus over the past 200 

years and being truthful about our 

shortcomings 
as 
an 
institution 

in terms of diversity, equity and 

inclusion. The symposium was really 

looking to the future and how we 

can become a more inclusive, more 

diverse campus. And I think the 

quality of the keynote addresses at 

my inauguration ceremony were 

outstanding, and the conversation 

was terrific. What I was most 

excited about were the poster 

sessions that occurred. The students 

also presented to the President’s 

Advisory Group the day after. I was 

just blown away by the creativity and 

innovation of our students. What was 

presented was actually just a small 

subset of the posters that have been 

presented prior to the symposia, and 

I can’t wait to see the outcome of 

those projects that will be funded by 

the Office of the President.

TMD: University Provost Laurie 

McCauley was recently approved for 

a full term. What do you hope to work 

on and accomplish in collaboration 

with her?

SO: We’re very lucky to have 

Laurie McCauley as provost of the 

University. Not only has she served 

as dean of the highly-ranked School 

of Dentistry for 10 years, but I’ve 

already had the chance to work with 

her for three and a half months. 

I also had a chance to talk to all 

the deans and other stakeholders. 

I’ve never had a situation where I 

essentially got 100% unanimous 

support for that individual and 

their 
performance. 
McCauley 

not only knows the University of 

Michigan very well, but I find that 

she’s a very thoughtful leader, and 

she really listens to people. I’m 

lucky to have her as a key partner 

in moving the institution forward. 

For the University of Michigan, 

it’s really important for there to 

be stability at the leadership level, 

and the provost is one of the most 

important senior executive officers 

of the University. She’s already 

made significant investments in the 

student experience, in wellness and 

in academic programs. She’s well-

equipped to continue with that.

TMD: How do you feel about 

the recent change to the academic 

calendar for the 2023-2024 school 

year that will extend Winter Break 

by a week?

SO: The wonderful thing about 

being president of the University of 

Michigan is that I get tremendous 

amounts of input. I have a pretty 

good idea when people are happy 

and when people are not happy. 

I would say judging from all the 

direct messages and emails that 

I’ve received, the vast majority of 

responses have been very positive. 

We’ll have to evaluate whether this 

is a permanent change. What we’re 

hearing from students is ‘thank 

goodness,’ they needed a little bit of 

a break between the terms and so if 

that holds up to be true then I would 

venture that this will be a long-

standing change.

TMD: After the shooting at 

Michigan State University that left 

three dead and five more injured, 

does the U-M administration plan to 

take any further action to support the 

students, faculty and administration 

at MSU?

SO: I have been in direct 

conversation with the President 

of Michigan State, and Provost 

Laurie McCauley has been in direct 

conversation with the Provost of 

Michigan State. We have worked 

together with their athletic director 

and coaches. There were a number 

of games that occurred between 

Michigan 
and 
Michigan 
State 

following the shooting, and it was 

really their decision whether a game 

was to be played. The basketball 

game occurred because they wanted 

to play the game. There were other 

games where the players weren’t 

ready for a game and we honored 

their wishes. We will continue to 

work directly with Michigan State. 

We want to do everything we can 

to help them — they’re our sister 

institution. There are a lot of families 

that have ties to both universities. It’s 

really clear from the vigil on the Diag 

that this affected our own students 

as well. We will do everything 

we can to support Michigan State 

University. One silver lining is that 

there’ll be a new chapter written 

about the relationship between 

the University of Michigan and 

Michigan State, not only in terms 

of athletic competitions but also 

in terms of opportunities for more 

collaboration, teaching and research 

between universities.

2 — Wednesday, March 22, 2023
News

President Santa Ono gives March updates in exclusive interview

ADMINISTRATION

UMich designated bee-friendly campus

From GEO negotiations to snow days, here’s what Ono 
had to tell The Daily this month

As of December, the University has been officially ‘bee-friendly’ following 
masters students’ pollinator protection advocacy

RESEARCH

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

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Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director of the World Health Organization, is awarded the Thomas Francis, Jr. Medal in Global Public Health at the Ross School of Business Monday.

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University of Michigan President Santa Ono in an interview with the Michigan Daily in the 
Ruthven building Tuesday morning.

