"Now that we're 10 years out, we want to see how we can position ourselves better for the students of today. This science now is not the same as it was a decade ago, and neither are the students. We want to provide a richer academic experience by revitalizing our curriculum to reflect today’s issues—climate change, sustainability, environmental justice—and to show students that we can all make a difference in how our environment works and how we can enhance it.
I’d like to see the department as a center point within the university for some of these issues. Our students are really active in various forms of outreach and social justice issues, which is great to see, and I would never have thought of that 10 years ago. Our students take things into their own hands and show up as a community, and I’d like to help cultivate that.”
—David Velinsky, PhD, Department Head
Read about the history of the BEES department, how it has grown over the last decade and its many success stories in the full Q&A here.
