There used to be more beehives on the east side of the arboretum’s natural lands. Those areas comprise a variety of ecosystems — scrubby and wet flatwoods, and dome and strand swamps — that are unique and protected from development but not from the area’s natural predators.

One of those predators, the Florida black bear, wreaked havoc on a beehive there in 2023.

The marauding animal likely took advantage of the natural habitat with its lack of people, lighting and machinery, and was just doing what bears do, says Jennifer Elliott ’04 ’09MS, director of the UCF Arboretum and Sustainability Initiatives.

Plus, she says, a black bear’s sense of smell can easily be measured in miles.

“I have no doubt that every olfactory nerve in her brain was alerted to an ample supply of fresh honey and yummy insect larvae in the hive,” Elliott says. “She knew exactly where she was going, and what she was going to do.”

Elliott believes the hungry bear was a female; a bear has been spotted in the area, sometimes with cubs in tow, over the past several years. Perhaps, Elliott says, the mama bear was teaching her cubs about a great food source.

In the aftermath of the feeding frenzy lay splintered wood, spilled honey, thousands of honeybee carcasses and hexagons of protective beeswax containing remnants of future honeybees.

The total loss of the honeybees was devastating, says Amanda Craig ’24, junior mentor and beekeeper for the Arboretum.

Want to support the Knight bees? Make a gift to the UCF . Want to increase your impact? Join us on Thursday, April 10 on and swarm the day with gifts for our pollinating friends.

As a beekeeper, Craig is responsible for inspecting each hive and checking the frames to determine what the bees are doing.

“An inspection reveals a lot about what the bees are up to, including population sizes, if they are thinking about swarming and their general health,” Craig says.

Craig, along with volunteers from the Arboretum Beekeepers Club, a UCF-registered student organization, also assists with honey production each June. Last year, UCF honeybees produced about 50 pounds of the amber liquid. Bottles are sold to the community, and the money raised goes back into the Arboretum and Sustainability Initiatives fund.

In addition to providing the community with honey, bees, along with UCF moths, bats, butterflies and other insects, are also a critical component of educating and feeding UCF students.

The �������ǰ���ٳܳ�’s Learning by Leading program maintains a community farm and garden, which provide fresh fruits and vegetables to students in need through Knight’s Pantry.

This, along with all of the �������ǰ���ٳܳ�’s programs, are creating a buzz.

The Arboretum has received national recognition for its efforts to support healthy bee activity. In 2018, UCF was the first school in Florida to be named a Bee Campus USA. The honor signals that UCF actively addresses the plight of pollinators through operations, educational programs and community engagement.

Even after earning that special designation, Elliott says she still has a long wish list of enhancements that she would like to see for the Arboretum. In the short term, they need a bigger office space, increased community volunteers and, of course, the apiary to replace the one that the bear destroyed.

“Wouldn’t it be great to have educational apiaries across our campus, integrated into existing buildings where our Knights can safely observe our wonderful honeybees, while also keeping the bees safe from the occasional hungry bears with whom we also share our beautiful natural lands?” she says.

Help UCF’s honeybees and other pollinators by making a gift on , which is April 10.

The day after he graduates from UCF with a bachelor’s in film, he’ll show his first documentary series — an 80-minute, four-part feature following a day in the life of four Florida naturalists — during a private showing to cast, crew and local contributors at the Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida. Marcucci and his crew are also currently submitting the project to several national film festivals and seeking distribution through TV and education-focused outlets. The showing at the Enzian represents not just a project that consumed more than 18 months of his life, but a realization of the dream that brought him to college in the first place.

The film, Tales of Sunshine: Florida EcoStories, put Marcucci in the director’s chair for the first time, while answering his need to draw attention to social issues.

“These two realms blend together well,” he says.

Marcucci recognized early in life that movies and documentaries had a unique power to illustrate the need for social change. He considered pursuing filmmaking directly after high school, and scholarship opportunities — including an SG Sustainability Initiatives Scholarship and a UCF Part-time Summer Grant — helped support his interest. Besides the typical pursuits of college life, he began developing industry connections and networking with the biologists, anthropologists and sociologists who shared his interests. Getting his hands dirty as a part-time student worker at the deepened his zeal for environmental studies.

Over the summer of 2020 he approached senior instructor Lisa Peterson about developing an independent study course to complete a film. He had the seed of an idea to film his friend Ian Biazzo, a conservation biology doctoral student, as he performed conservation biology field research.

That little idea quickly blossomed into an incredible volume of work — even before filming began. Marcucci recruited more students to help with cinematography, sound, music composition, graphics and logistics. Then came preplanning, chased by a full weekend of filming. His team looked to him to lead pre-shoot meetings on safety as well as logistics, like how much water to carry into Central Florida scrubland.

As the project grew in scope and Marcucci realized the value of adding more voices, he was reminded of advice his mentor, Peterson, gave him early in the project.

“She said, ‘The documentary will tell you what it wants to be,’” Marcucci says. “So as the episodes went from 10 minutes to 15 to 20, I just let the art explain itself.”

Besides Biazzo’s conversation biology work, the film follows members of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a professional mermaid and a recreational fisherman. A $1,800 grant from the Office of Undergraduate Research played a big part in expanding the series.

For months Marcucci spent every day working on the project to some degree, particularly as he faced the monumental task of editing it into a finished piece. A three-month break for a summer job in Hawaii in 2021 gave him a fresh perspective when he returned for his final semester at UCF.

Showing the final piece on the big screen and reaching the finish line fills him with a mixture of relief and anxiety. It’s already been interesting to see which stories early reviewers prefer, he says, so he’s most looking forward to engaging with the audience.

“More than anything I’m just really excited to show it,” Marcucci says. “It’s been a long process.”

The .15 acre garden, which is in the footprint of the planned tower, will grow to .2 acre, about the size of three tennis courts. It will be moved this month to be close to the �������ǰ���ٳܳ�’s greenhouse, which is east of the Counseling and Psychological Services parking lot.

The garden is part of the urban farming and garden program, focusing on organic produce, herbalism, medicinal botany, and classes on cooking and healthy diets.

“It is going to be a fantastic improvement over the existing program,” says Patrick Bohlen, a biology professor and director of the 80-acre Arboretum, campus landscape and natural resources. “Being closer to the greenhouse and propagation house will activate that area of the Arboretum and create closer synergy.”

The garden is open to everyone in the UCF and Orlando community to learn about growing and preparing food. The food is shared by the garden’s regular volunteers and given to the Knights Pantry, which helps UCF students in need. The gardeners harvest a variety of seasonal produce, greens, fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices.

The gardeners also are expanding into cut-flower production, and a new site that Bohlen plans to develop for fruit trees. The whole area will be fenced to secure the garden and “keep out deer and critters,” he says. ����ֱ�� and community volunteers are always welcome to sign up to be part of the garden.

“Many segments of the campus need increased cellular coverage, as well as greater cellular capacity.”

The new cellphone tower will overlap where the current community garden now sits south of District Energy Plant 4. The tower will be 70 feet taller than the UCF water tower, which is 120 feet tall.

“Many segments of the campus need increased cellular coverage, as well as greater cellular capacity. This tower will greatly enhance cellular reception for this area of campus, assuming all major carriers mount equipment on the tower,” says Joel Hartman, UCF’s vice president for Information Technologies and Resources. In addition, public safety antennas will be moved from the WUCF transmission tower to this location to improve and extend reception for first responders.

UCF IT Telecommunications will design, own and maintain the tower, which is estimated to cost about $1.2 million, Hartman says. The bidding process hasn’t been completed so the contractor hasn’t been determined. Cellular carriers will be charged rent for placing their antennas on the tower.

The goal is to complete the tower late this fall.

“This will be a major step forward for increasing cellular and first-responder radio coverage on campus,” Hartman says.

Recently, CAPS mental health clinicians began carrying a “prescription” pad for gardening at the on-campus Arboretum. The department took a beat from Student Health Services’ “FARMacy” program, which launched last fall.

“We want students thinking about their own wellness, health and self-care.”

Associate director Teresa Michaelson, who helped foster the partnership, says it is part of a larger initiative to identify spaces on campus where students can engage in a peaceful environment through activities such as mindfulness, mediation, quality social interaction with a friend or outdoor hobbies, just like gardening.

“We want students thinking about their own wellness, health and self-care, and that’s why we’re calling this ‘Thrive with CAPS,’ ” she says. “Instead of focusing on, ‘I’m depressed and sad all the time,’ let’s shift it to, ‘I’m struggling right now, so I need to take extra steps to care for myself. What are some things I can do to help me feel better?’ ”

After rolling out the idea at a meeting in September, one of the CAPS staff members used a script that day with a student.

“Our clinician shared that the student was incredibly excited. The student had never thought about it as an opportunity to go out and be involved,” Michaelson says. “When she got the slip, it felt all official. Like she could go to the Arboretum and say, ‘I’m here!’ It helped legitimize the concept.”

Grow and Thrive

Larry Marks, a member of the CAPS clinical staff, says gardening and being out in nature leads to a number of health benefits and positive feelings, which ultimate contribute to a state of well-being.

“There’s something inherent in connecting with nature,” he says. “It taps your senses in different ways from seeing the greenery and expansive views, and allows you to get away from the hectic campus life to a more calming atmosphere. You might hear some nature sounds, smell the fresh air, feel the sun and the warmth on your skin. It taps into a lot of your senses, which contributes to a sense of calmness.”

“There’s something inherent in connecting with nature. It taps into a lot of your senses, which contributes to a sense of calmness.”

Additionally, the act of volunteering itself enhances those positive feelings. The community garden supplies produce to the Knights Helping Knights Pantry, where students in need can pick up some for themselves for free.

Arboretum coordinator Kelsie Johnson ’16 says the staff helps guide and teach volunteers through the steps of maintaining the community garden, and anyone within the community is welcomed and encouraged to sign up for a 2-hour morning or afternoon volunteer shift.

“We get a couple hundred volunteers every semester, and we offer all of them the chance to provide feedback through our volunteer log. We have many students who tell us after a shift that they’ve had fun and relieved stress,” Johnson says.

Ways to Live a Better Life

CAPS is the only free-of-charge campus agency designated to provide comprehensive psychological services to university-enrolled students.

Thee department continually sees an increase year to year in the numbers of students served and appointments provided.

It’s difficult to pinpoint what’s causing the increase of stress and anxiety among students — “that’s the million-dollar question,” Michaelson says — but they’re hoping the Thrive with CAPS movement will help provide viable, pre-emptive strategies for healthier coping.

In addition to the Thrive prescription, Marks created a flyer with nearly 100 suggestions for ways to enrich one’s life, take care of one’s body and live efficiently. The list includes examples ranging from developing a personal mission statement to deep breathing exercises to arriving to school early.

“The Thrive concept is a non-stigmatizing way of approaching mental wellness,” Michaelson says. “We’re wanting you to engage in wellness behaviors not because you’re depressed or anxious, but because this is how you live a better life and learn to better cope with life’s challenges.”

“Our designation as a Bee Campus USA builds on our ongoing commitment to address global concerns over the decline in pollinators, especially in urban settings,” UCF’s Arboretum director Patrick Bohlen says. “It also builds on other pollinator initiatives we have joined, including the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge and the Nature Conservancy Monarch Initiative.”

“Our designation as a Bee Campus USA builds on our ongoing commitment to address global concerns over the decline in pollinators.”

In 2016, the Arboretum worked with UCF’s Landscape and Natural Resources to plant the campus’s first pollinator gardens. Since then the campus has established another large pollinator garden near Colbourn Hall. The university’s horticultural staffers are using these areas to test different native and non-native pollinator plants to determine which species perform best on campus.

Last year, the university also placed three honeybee hives in the Arboretum to help improve pollinator activity on campus. Honeybees are responsible for pollinating 80 percent of worldwide pollination.

“Imperiled pollinators are responsible for the reproduction of 90 percent of the world’s wild plant and tree species,” Bee Campus USA director Phyllis Stiles says. “UCF is a stellar example of the influence educational institutions can have on their students and the broader community. Their talented faculty, staff and students offer an invaluable resource for Central Florida residents in seeking ways to manage ornamental landscapes in more wildlife-friendly ways.”

Chase Mason and Barbara Sharanowski, two professors from the Department of Biology, also serve on UCF’s Bee Campus USA committee with Bohlen. The Arboretum supports student research projects and internships, which helps the campus meet the expectations of the Bee Campus USA program.

“Imperiled pollinators are responsible for the reproduction of 90 percent of the world’s wild plant and tree species.”

The Bee Campus USA program requires the university to develop policies and procedures to minimize hazards of harmful chemicals to pollinators. Experts in UCF’s Integrated Pest Management program are working to develop more environmentally sustainable pest-control practices. Landscape and Natural Resources is also working to find alternatives to certain pesticides and other chemicals that are harmful to pollinators and other beneficial insects.

The UCF Arboretum will soon publish a webpage with information about UCF’s Integrated Pest Management Plan, native plants on campus and links to student research on pollinator issues. In the meantime, the Arboretum will also post information about upcoming events through its and other UCF media outlets.

Each certified campus must reapply each year and report on accomplishments from the previous year, Stiles says.

Throughout her career, she’s found evidence that the parasite may manipulate the ants’ behavior, in part, by hijacking their biological clocks. In published Nov. 3 in the peer-review journal PLOS ONE, findings show that the parasite itself has a working biological clock, too, that may be the driving force behind the timing of when and how the parasite infects and manipulates the ants.

It’s been observed that infected zombie ants wander out of their nests, climb onto a piece of vegetation such as Spanish moss or pine needle, bite down and ultimately die. Afterward, a spore-carrying stalk grows out of their heads. This is the work of the parasite manipulating the ants’ behavior to lead them away from their nest and normal routines so that the fungus can spread its spores more effectively. Now knowing that the parasite has its own biological clock, scientists such as de Bekker can hone in on answering how and why this phenomenon occurs.

“We don’t quite understand yet how parasites manipulate their hosts with such precision,” said de Bekker, an assistant professor in biology. “Even the most brilliant neurologists can’t change behavior that effectively. The goal of my lab, therefore, is to learn more about this.”

Infected ants are found in Central Florida, including the Little Big Econ State Forest near Geneva and the Arboretum at UCF. While the majority of infected ants have been found in rainforests, this phenomenon has been observed across the globe, said de Bekker, who holds a doctorate in biology.

The first hint that the fungal parasite may hijack the ants’ biological clock came from field studies that observed infected ants all actively searched for an elevated piece of vegetation to bite down on at the same time of day. Later laboratory studies showed similar results that indicated the time of day may be an important factor for the manipulating fungus.

De Bekker and her team, which consists of UCF undergraduate and graduate students, now plan to further this new avenue of research to hopefully one day better understand how biological clocks are disturbed by parasites. Scientists in Scotland are already researching how biological clocks are involved in malaria, and a team of medical researchers last month won the Nobel Prize for research on the molecular structure of the biological clock of fruit flies. De Bekker sees the role of biological clocks in infectious diseases as the next big thing for scientists to study. Scientists can better understand how diseases internally impact humans by knowing more about parasites and their impact on the biological clock.

De Bekker and her team’s research takes place in a lab at UCF, as well as in the field at Little Big Econ State Forest and the UCF Arboretum.

In the lab, ants are infected with the parasite so the team can observe their behavior in a controlled environment. Ian Will, a Ph.D. student and co-author of the published paper, closely watches the ants to better determine when and how ants act differently after they’re infected.

“I’m interested in uncovering the genes that are involved in parasitic behavioral manipulation and how,” he said.

Will met de Bekker in Munich, Germany, in 2014 while pursuing his master’s degree. He was also intrigued by the parasite, and followed de Bekker to Orlando after she arrived at UCF to continue the line of research together.

“In Munich, we didn’t have the ants – we had to ship them,” De Bekker said “Being here [in Florida], the ants and the fungus are all around us, which gives us all of these opportunities to work both in the lab and in the field.”

After the ����ֱ�� Landscape & Natural Resources employee cut her knuckle down to the bone on a razor at a friend’s house, she turned to what most people would: a bandage and store-bought disinfecting ointment. After days of no improvement, she then turned to a homemade ointment made from comfrey herbs and chaga mushrooms. Her wound healed days later without scabbing, scaring or developing an infection.

“We all live in this chemical, medicinal society,” Lindsay said. “But once you try something natural, you then realize this stuff really does work.”

That’s exactly what Lindsay and the UCF Arboretum staff want to teach students, faculty, staff and the community through a new workshop series called Everyday Herbalism. At 11 a.m. Nov. 10, participants will be shown how to make disinfecting ointment, also known as salve, with just boiling water, olive oil, beeswax and plants grown in Florida.

By infusing oil with plants that have natural anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties, the oil – that’s then mixed with beeswax to become jelly-like – then contains these qualities also found in store-bought ointments. Plants such as Spanish needle, goldenrod and comfrey are common in Florida and contain these beneficial properties. Plus, making ointments at home can save money and help the environment by reducing plastic and pollution from mass manufacturing.

“Bringing people together and educating them on the value of herbs to the planet and their bodies really ties in to what we’re trying to do [at the Arboretum],” said Jennifer Elliott, coordinator of the UCF Arboretum.

The workshop is free and will be at the �������ǰ���ٳܳ�’s Natural Resources Pavilion on Gemini Boulevard across from Garage C. It also will be the first of the Everyday Herbalism series that will host workshops at least once a semester, Elliott said. Future workshops will demonstrate how to make body lotions, deodorant, home-cleaning supplies, herbal teas and more with plants and other natural resources. for more on the workshop.

“The plants we use are window-type plants and easily can be grown in apartments or homes,” Elliott said. “Plus, you can argue homemade products are better. You know exactly how it’s made, and there are no ingredients you can’t pronounce.”

The series was spearheaded by Lindsay, a UCF alumna who studied environmental science; Jacques Werleigh ’13, an Arboretum program assistant; and Andrea Bender, an Arboretum work-study student who’s studying biomedical science. Their appreciation for the power of the outdoors motivated them to want to share their knowledge.

“These plants already are being grown at the Arboretum and are used as a teaching tool, but it’s hard to take away what a plant can be used for by just being told about it,” Lindsay said. “The outdoors has always been useful to humans, so we’re trying to target workshops that can benefit the greater community.”

This free event was the idea of Linda Walters, director of the Center for Success of Women Faculty and a 2012 Pegasus Professor in the College of Sciences, and Fran Ragsdale, administrative assistant at the center. The first event, Sept. 11, drew about 75 people. The next event is scheduled from 12:30 to 3 p.m.  Nov. 13 in the Arboretum.

“We spend a lot of time in meetings together or passing each other on our way back and forth to classes, but I don’t think a lot of faculty feel like they are part of something bigger,” Walters said. “Our goal was to help build a community of UCF faculty beyond our workday commitments.”

Walters’ vision was to provide an experience that blended both the professional and personal lives of the school’s faculty. She said too often professors and staff are forced by the time-intensive nature of university life to choose between their scholarship, family and friendships, often leading to a sense of disconnection with the larger UCF community.

At the first event, themed “Everything UCF,” several faculty and staff members shared talents that don’t necessarily come into play at work. One College of Sciences administrator played guitar and sang, a College of Education & Human Performance professor taught yoga, and an assistant vice provost spent the day painting faces, which Walters said was a hit with children.

Three members of the men’s basketball team dropped by to teach kids how to dribble basketballs, and the UCF Police Department demonstrated its canine unit.

Knightro also made an appearance and was quickly bedecked with snakes, courtesy of the biology department.

“One of the researchers, Christopher Parkinson in biology, works on venomous snakes, so there were live venomous snakes in cages,” Walters said. “But there were a number of very large, nonvenomous snakes, and anybody and everybody who wanted to learn about these animals and to hold them were able to.

“That’s the kind of thing we were going for. You’re sharing your research at whatever level is appropriate. The kids played and took selfies with the snakes, and the faculty had the opportunity to talk with Chris about the genetics of snake venom.”

Walters had planned a second event for October, but Hurricane Matthew delayed those plans until November. This month’s event is a “Salute to our Oceans” and “UCF Innovations” and will feature marine touch tanks, oyster-mat making, a fishing-skills workshop for all ages and a sea turtle biology display, courtesy of Professor Kate Mansfield.  Innovations displays will include Limbitless Solutions and their bionic arms and a theatre workshop for children among many other opportunities. Food will also be available for purchase.

“We had a really, really good day,” Walters said. “I think everyone who came left with a better appreciation for UCF. Faculty met and shared experiences with colleagues, , their kids had fun while seeing a little bit of what mom or dad did at work, and everybody had a good time.”

As a result, the Creative School was recently named a certified Nature Explore Classroom by the national Nature Explore program, an initiative that recognizes schools and other organizations that make a commitment to use the natural world as an integral part of learning. Nature Explore Classrooms were developed by a team of educators, landscape architects and researchers in response to the documented growing disconnect between children and nature.

The school, on Gemini Boulevard just west of the UCF water tower, offers not just inside classroom programs but now also presents a variety of outside interactive elements geared to create an environment of discovery, exploration and development.

Designated centers on the campus provide hands-on activities such as nature art, music and movement, climbing, butterfly garden, vegetable garden – and even dirt-digging and “messy materials” areas.

“We set out with a year-long initiative to transform our playground to a nature-based classroom,” said Amy Hesse, director of the school.

And how do children learn in this environment?

“Through observation, interaction, exploration, risk-taking, decision making, project-based learning – and play,” she said.

The transition included training the staff about using nature in teaching, working with the UCF Arboretum for landscaping and sustainability of the new gardens, enlisting volunteers to help install new equipment and materials, and arranging with Wellness & Health Promotions Services to offer gardening lessons and share harvests with families and UCF students.

At the end of the year of redevelopment, the school hosted two workshops presented for the southeast region members of Nature Explore, which is a collaboration of Dimensions Educational Research Foundation and the Arbor Day Foundation.

The school has about 150 children enrolled up through age 5 in seven classrooms, with additional programs during summer months.

“We integrate nature-based learning in our curriculum both indoors and outdoors and host family events in the outdoor classroom such as “Art in the Garden” and “International Dinner,” Hesse said.

This new certification networks the Creative School with more than 320 like-minded spaces nationwide.

“����ֱ�� Creative School for Children provides a model to other universities across the country,” said Heather Fox, director of communications and outreach for the Nature Explore program. “These spaces inspire hands-on activity, creativity, play and plenty of time exploring the natural world.”

In addition to offering educational experiences for the children, the school provides an opportunity for university students to gain experience and training in working with young children, and for faculty and graduate students to do educational research.

Representatives of the university’s Arboretum and Department of Landscape and Natural Resources will teach them how to plant native trees during a hands-on demonstration. They’ll plant three oaks in the Arboretum, and also go on a guided hike through the campus’ natural lands to learn about the value of urban trees and conservation.

The event celebrates upcoming Arbor Day, and is funded through a “megabus.com Tree Campus USA” award by the Arbor Day Foundation. Megabus.com has partnered with the Arbor Day Foundation and Tree Campus USA to plant 10,000 trees along megabus.com routes and on college campuses.

Oak Ridge High School has an AmeriCorps team on campus that supports at-risk students with tutoring and mentoring. The school also has a Recycling Club, but lacks support to meet the needs of the students, especially when it comes to environmental education and awareness. The Oak Ridge High School Recycling Club and the AmeriCorps team will have the opportunity to engage and collaborate with UCF’s Arboretum for this Arbor Day Celebration. This will be an enriching experience for all students involved.

The UCF Arboretum is a creative learning community that uses the UCF campus as a comprehensive outdoor laboratory to support relevant experience-based learning, and human connections with ecosystems and landscapes.  The Arboretum program contributes to student development and engagement through multi-faceted volunteer, and service-learning opportunities.  They serve the community through partnership and outreach initiatives that increase awareness and understanding of key issues in ecology, natural resource conservation, and urban horticulture.

UCF’s 1,415-acre urban campus includes 876 acres of undeveloped green space that includes 337 acres of upland and wetland conservation easements, and an additional 539 acres of natural areas that have long-term preservation commitments.  UCF has been a certified Tree Campus USA since 2011, and was one of the first Tree Campus USA sites in Florida. UCF’s urban campus provides us a unique opportunity to expose college students and the local community to the principles of urban ecology, urban forestry, and land management techniques in an urban environment.