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Since its planting in 2021, Dominican’s Daniel Stralka Memorial Pollinator Garden has grown into a living classroom — a space in the center of campus where students and community partners come together to explore biodiversity and promote the importance of creating habitats for pollinators.

Undergraduate students in Dr. Thomas Cavanagh’s Leadership Practicum are gaining first-hand insight into the power of community organizing through their collaboration with Refugia Marin, a nonprofit organization dedicated to habitat conservation. 

The partnership allows students to apply leadership theories to environmentally focused work.

The students and Refugia Marin have two main goals this semester: to showcase campus and community involvement in a thriving pollinator garden and to engage partners in long-term planning to ensure the garden’s maintenance and highlight its educational value. As part of this effort, they will co-host a volunteer workday at the garden on .

In addition to preparing the plants for winter, the event will feature faculty researchers and local fire safety experts who will discuss the ecological and safety benefits of native plants.

The garden’s roots began in spring 2019, when business professor Dr. Denise Lucy, Executive Director of Dominican’s Institute for Leadership Studies, attended a workshop led by Bonnie Morse of Bee Audacious, a Marin nonprofit focused on preserving pollinator populations by encouraging and educating people to create and preserve environmentally conscious ecosystems that help bees and other pollinators flourish. 

Dr. Lucy pledged to engage Dominican students, faculty, administrators, and staff to examine possibilities on the Dominican campus, with a focus on developing a garden that would benefit both the university and the greater community. Morse was an enthusiastic collaborator, introducing Dr. Lucy to like-minded partners including –— earlier this year –— Refugia Marin’s Founder & Executive Director Dana Swisher.

Named to honor the late Daniel Stralka, a chemist with the Environmental Protection Agency and a hobby beekeeper, the garden is divided into sections that contain plants curated to highlight specific functions. Many of the plants serve as pollinators for bees and butterflies. Some plants thrive in shaded areas, while others provide planting options for high fire-risk areas. It typically takes just one rainstorm to fill a nearby 3,000-gallon water tank that helps supply the garden with with its (low) watering needs.

The garden was intended to be a student-centered project from the start. In the early stages, students helped identify potential campus locations and invited campus partners to collaborate on the planning process. Another student team organized a lecture on biodiversity and native plants. Once a campus site was selected, students used GPS and GIS software to record coordinates and calculate the areas of other pollinator gardens in Marin, which they used to develop plant inventories.

Refugia Marin’s mission is to educate the community about the benefits of native plants while creating thriving wildlife habitats. The nonprofit has built strong partnerships with schools, community leaders, and like-minded organizations throughout Marin County. Refugia Marin has developed habitat gardens in public parks and on school grounds in Corte Madera and Larkspur. The connection with Dominican was a natural next step.

“Dominican’s garden was designed to support biodiversity, create habitat, and offer moments of beauty and learning on campus,” says Sarah D’Alexander, Refugia Marin’s Board Secretary. “Our role is to help the garden thrive and to foster the human connections that grow alongside it. It is the perfect combination of expertise, passion, and trust — a testament to how meaningful environmental work often grows from genuine human connections.”

Refugia Marin’s Project Manager Cat Wolfers and Deputy Director Helen Jenkins are working with Swisher and D’Alexander on the garden. Students in this semester’s Leadership Practicum are James Bergeron ’26, Liana Lerona ’26, , and Jonathan Somosierra ’27.

In preparation for the November 15 volunteer day, the students have been operating as a self-managed consulting team — Growing Community Through Pollinators — with Refugia Marin as their client. Through weekly meetings, a shared project management board, and consensus-based decision-making, the team has gained hands-on experience in project management, marketing, and leadership, while advancing environmental awareness in the local community.

Each student brings a unique perspective to the collaboration:

• Liana, a biology major and president of the Associated Students of ������ý (ASDUC), applies her background in plant physiology and ecology to connect scientific concepts with sustainability goals. “This foundation allows me to contribute thoughtfully to the project’s goals and connect biological concepts to real-world applications in sustainability and environmental care,” she says. Her participation also supports her long-term aspiration of opening a dental practice by strengthening her business and leadership skills.
• Rylee, a business major and NCAA Division II soccer player, leverages her experience as a founding member of the San Rafael Youth Sustainability Committee and the student representative on Dominican’s Sustainability Committee.
• Jonathan, who is majoring in business with a concentration in accounting and a minor in leadership studies, is developing his communication skills while learning how best to work as part of a team. “I enjoy working with this amazing team to help our community and the environment,” he says. “I am an introverted person, so I was worried about how I was going to work with a team. This project has helped me tremendously, and I am way more comfortable working with a team now.”
• James, a business student with a focus on leadership and sustainability, appreciates the opportunity to apply real-world project management skills and connect with community organizations, “As an older student, I understand the value in the skills we’re practicing through this group project and appreciate the connections I am making,” he says. “I appreciate how Dominican works with local organizations like Refugia Marin and Ritter Center, an organization I worked with last semester.

Refugia Marin envisions continued collaboration with Dominican faculty and students to further develop the garden into a living laboratory and restorative outdoor space where students can explore native plant ecology, climate resilience, and the power of community stewardship. In the coming months, new signage will be installed to identify plant species and highlight their ecological benefits.

“Our hope is to create a pathway for Dominican students to engage deeply with environmental stewardship — whether through coursework, internships, research, or ongoing volunteer involvement,” D’Alexander says.

 _{Photo Credit - Helen Jenkins}