Kirstin Berben
This month's Sustainability Champion is Kirstin Berben. Kirstin is the Laboratories Manager for the Biology Department and she is also involved with the beehives on campus. Read about how sustainability effects Kirstin's work, research, and life off-campus in our full interview with her below:
What sparked your interest in coastal ecology?
I grew up in the mountains of upstate New York. I've always had an interest in how the outdoors functions as a community. When I was younger, I really wanted to be able to walk into a forest and know what everything was. After studying Environmental and Forest Biology in undergrad, I moved into studying coastal ecology during graduate school. My focus was freshwater coastal wetland communities.
What environmental topics or issues interest you the most?
My interest in the environment began purely as an interest in ecological communities, however as I watch society change over time, I find I’m really fascinated by our interactions with the environment. Humanity's impact on the natural world is just so in your face if you're studying ecological communities, you constantly see patterns and processes influenced by people. The consequences of climate change are also really interesting to me. I would love to work with ecological modeling as a tool, affecting how we make decisions and how we'll face challenges brought on by climate change. I think people sometimes don't recognize how climate change will impact mankind because we have this creeping sense of normal. We get used to changes around us and take them for granted, not realizing how things are altered when we interact with the environment.
What's your favorite part of your job in the Biology Lab?
My job is different every day. I truly never know what will walk through the door. Sometimes my day is just normal prep for a planned lab and other times a student shows up and asks to borrow a canoe to test something in the lake. I like that I get to solve problems and help students accomplish their goals.
What sort of research have you been involved in?
During graduate school, my work focused on unintended consequences of prescribed fire, used in this case to maintain critical habitat for the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker, promoting growth of longleaf pine seedlings on an island in the coastal region of South Carolina. I was looking at how the burn regimens affected communities of reptiles and amphibians on the island by comparing populations in areas treated with variable burn frequencies. The island hosted a very rich diversity of species but the management focused primarily on two species of concern.
With the arrival of the bees on campus, I'm hoping to do more research related to what makes colonies successful, where and what they're foraging, and I would like to incorporate the hives into classes. We haven't started research with the bees yet because we're still trying to get them up and running and understand what kind of data we'll be able to collect.
What has your work with the bees on campus looked like for you since the hives were installed?
Right now most of my work is learning. Joe Essid from the Writing Center is our in-house beekeeper and he's been helping me get up to speed. I've always been interested in bees, so I was excited to have the chance to participate in this. I learn new things every time I visit the hives and there's a great community of beekeepers in the area that are happy to help people learn.
Through the winter, you don't generally do much with bees. One of our two hives was weak in the fall and we didn't expect it to make it through the winter. Unfortunately, because of the recent prolonged cold snap, we lost both hives. The success of beehives is very dependent on the weather. We have two more hives coming in the spring, and since they will arrive earlier than they did last year, we are hoping they will have more opportunity to establish themselves and survive next winter. We'll also have nectar, pollen, and honey from the two previous hives to help get the new ones going.
How have you seen sustainability overlap with your job here?
In the lab, we try to limit our plastic use and we strive to reuse materials as much as possible. For example, in the ecology classes, we're able to clean and reuse petri dishes and other materials that may be considered disposable. More than that, though, I think we're also able to provide a culture of sustainability by modeling sustainable habits in our own lives. Many professors and staff provide great examples of living the way you should to reduce your impact on the environment.
How does sustainability impact your life outside the workplace?
I just bought a house, so I'm thinking a lot about sustainability as I go through renovations. The oil heater was replaced with a heat pump and I'm upgrading the old appliances to more energy efficient ones. All of that should save energy and help me save money. In the backyard, we're planning to install a beehive and remove invasive species to make room for a pollinator garden and rain collection. I would also like to start composting. We have a bunny that creates a lot of compost!
Thank you, Kirstin, for all the work you do for our campus community! Do you know someone who should be featured as a Sustainability Champion? Let us know at sustainabilty@richmond.edu.