Designation is part of an overall push for sustainability

[00:00:00] Host Amber Smith: Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York invites you to be "The Informed Patient" with the podcast that features experts from Central New York's only academic medical center. I'm your host Amber Smith. Upstate's campus was designated as a "Bee Campus USA" affiliate, but there's more to becoming part of this nationwide program than helping to conserve native pollinators. I'll talk about this with my guest, Paul Corsi, who is Upstate's sustainability manager. Welcome to "The Informed Patient," Mr. Corsi.

[00:00:33] Paul Corsi: Thank you for having me.

[00:00:35] Host Amber Smith: So Upstate committed to working to conserve bees by making the campus a better place for pollinators. What's involved in that?

[00:00:44] Paul Corsi: There's three main strategies that we're approaching those with. The first is, we don't use any chemical pest or weed control on any of our properties. That's a really big thing that can harm, particularly a lot of insects.

And then secondly, we're also looking at planting pollinator-friendly plants. A key is that, especially in a lot of manicured, landscaped areas by buildings, there can sometimes be a lack of habitat for particularly a lot of native pollinators. So, trying to find native plants, pollinator-friendly plants that we can plant there, to provide that habitat and provide that food.

And finally, just doing a lot more education and outreach and volunteer opportunities for faculty, staff, students, the community. The more I learn about pollinators, it's harder to overemphasize how important they are for our health, our wellbeing, the stability of our ecosystem, the environment, et cetera.

[00:01:37] Host Amber Smith: So what is the purpose of this Bee Campus USA?

[00:01:42] Paul Corsi: Yeah. I want to clarify, too. I know that sometimes there's confusion. It's B E E. It's not the letter B, right? Some people ask me why we aren't an A campus, and I say, "no, it's the insect, right?" It's bee-focused, but it's really just about pollinators in general.

But the idea is that there's a lot of habitat loss. There's a lot of stress on these populations, andour food system, our environment, is heavily dependent on pollinators. So it's important, particularly for Upstate as an academic medical center, as a healthcare institution, that we protect these pollinators. Something like one out of every three vegetables or produce that we eat relies on pollinators. That percentage is a lot higher when we're talking about wildlife. So, if we lose pollinators or pollinator populations decline, we're talking a huge impact on agriculture, on our ecosystems. And that has a huge impact on public health.

[00:02:44] Host Amber Smith: Do you know if our academic neighbors -- Syracuse University or SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry -- are they involved in anything like this as well?

[00:02:53] Paul Corsi: Yeah. They're also both certified as "Bee" campuses. In fact, they helped us a little bit with the application process, and I lean on some folks at ESF for the more technical details when it comes to what pollinators and what plants we're looking to plant here.

[00:03:11] Host Amber Smith: Now you mentioned pollinators. The only one I know of are bees. What are other pollinators?

[00:03:17] Paul Corsi: There's a ton. I mean a lot of birds, hummingbirds can be pollinators. Bats are pollinators. Sometimes small mammals are pollinators. And then, just within insects in general, I know when we're just talking about native bees, I think in New York State, there's something like 450 different native bee species. So there's an incredible diversity of pollinators out there.

And I think that's really the key. When we're talking about creating habitats that are pollinator friendly, it's all about diversity. There's no one plant or habitat or whatever that can be attractive or provide habitat or food to every type of species. So, it's about creating this diversity, this rich patchwork of different plants, animals, habitat spaces that can attract that diversity.

[00:04:03] Host Amber Smith: And you're having to do that in, really, an urban environment. So what are the things, can you name anything specifically that attracts pollinators or something specifically that scares them away?

[00:04:16] Paul Corsi: Sure. I think the big thing is, particularly for native bees, is a lot of folks don't realize that I think some 70% of native species are actually ground nesting. So they'll actually burrow and dig in the ground. So, having patches of dirt that you don't, like, till or mess around with all that much -- hugely important.

Another large segment of native bees really like to live in, like, dead wood. So, if you think, like, a standing dead tree, or even, like, a pile of branches on the ground or something. That's something that can be really attractive. So, a lot of it, we talk about like, this benign neglect. I like to think of it as just, like, a more creative landscaping. That's not about, or it's about acknowledging that sometimes these areas that we think of as, like, kind of messy, or, like, a dead branch on the ground or something like that, we think, like, oh, it's an eyesore. But it can really be a really beautiful and important part of the environment if we kind of let it be and leave it as a place for these pollinators to live.

[00:05:17] Host Amber Smith: So, do the bees just find us, or do you have to go find a hive and try to move it onto the campus?

[00:05:25] Paul Corsi: Oh, no. I mean, they're here. They're everywhere. They're pretty ubiquitous. So it's just about supporting the population that's already here. And also, as we think about, like, development and building new spaces and parking lots and all these other things, that we're kind of offsetting some of that development with some places that they can continue to live on.

[00:05:44] Host Amber Smith: Can humans coexist with the bees without getting stung, though?

[00:05:49] Paul Corsi: Oh, sure.

A lot of native bee species are not aggressive, and they don't sting. And then pollinators, generally we're talking about like butterflies and beetles and birds and all these other things. So, I can totally understand if you're anxious about being stung, maybe you can if you think about, like, making your own backyard a bit more pollinator friendly. Focus on birds or, like, butterfly-friendly plants if you're a little nervous about bees. But for the most part, a lot of native bees are perfectly safe and are not interested in you at all.

[00:06:20] Host Amber Smith: So, with all of these bees here, will there be honey? Because bees naturally make honey, right?

[00:06:28] Paul Corsi: Yeah. So. some bees. This is another really interesting point, too, that I think a lot of folks aren't aware of is that when we think of bees, we think of the honeybee. The honeybee is, really, kind of like a livestock, essentially. You know, it's like an agricultural animal almost. And a lot of native bees don't produce honey. They don't live in hives. They have very different life patterns or ways of being.

So, honeybees are really great. I know SU has some honey beehives, and maybe that's something we'll pursue in the future. But the benefits of having a robust native bee population, particularly when we're talking about pollinating and ecosystem health, are much greater when we're talking about these native species over honeybees.

[00:07:11] Host Amber Smith: Have you seen bats near campus?

[00:07:14] Paul Corsi: I have not. I live in the university neighborhood though, by SU, and I definitely can see them sometimes around there, especially near, like, Barry Park or Thornden Park. They're around, for sure.

[00:07:24] Host Amber Smith: This is Upstate's "The Informed Patient" podcast. I'm your host, Amber Smith, and I'm talking with Upstate's sustainability manager, Paul Corsi.

Now, sustainability is not just about saving bees. Can you talk about Upstate's broader sustainability goals?

[00:07:41] Paul Corsi: Sure. Yeah. Sustainability is something that I think the healthcare industry in general has kind of gotten a pass on, particularly in recent years with COVID, right? We've had a lot of our plates. So maybe it's understandable.

But the pitch I always try to make to folks is that sustainability is healthcare, right? When we look at the great public health crisis of our time, climate change, when we look at pollution, pollution of water, the air quality that we've had, even in Syracuse. Upstate New York over this past summer has been really bad, right? These are all massive public health issues.

So, sustainability is really about addressing those issues and understanding that if we're going to provide the highest quality care to patients, and if we're going to really protect public health, we need to provide care in a way that's not contributing to climate change or pollution, that we need to be more conscious of how much waste we're producing, where our energy is coming from, how we're generating electricity, things like that. So, it's an increasingly important consideration that the health care industry broadly is taking.

[00:08:44] Host Amber Smith: So, it sounds like sustainability means that we take efforts to make sure that we're still able to provide health care in the future, that we're not doing things to our detriment now.

[00:08:55] Paul Corsi: Sure. Yeah. Definitely. Yeah. The dictionary definition of sustainability that we sometimes forget when this word gets very politicized or thrown around a lot, it literally just means to sustain. So, sustainability means we're just trying to ensure that the way we're doing things now does not impede our ability to continue to do those things into the future.

[00:09:15] Host Amber Smith: What are some examples of sustainability efforts that individuals make at home, in general?

[00:09:23] Paul Corsi: I think in general, just being more aware of what you're purchasing. Food is something that has a huge impact on the environment. If you try and consume more locally sourced goods. Try to eat more seasonally, so eating vegetables that are in season now, or that can be sourced locally is always good.

I would say generally that I think a problem, or maybe a blind spot that a lot of conversation about sustainability has had is that these systems really require a much greater or much broader investment than what any particular individual is capable of, right?

I think when we start talking about individual responsibility, we end up just, like, stressing a lot of people out. Because they're like, "well, I can't carpool to work," or, "you know, there's no bus route at my house." Like, how am I going to be sustainable, right?

And we really need to think about how do we expand things like public transportation. Or in healthcare, you know, if you're relying on an already very busy nurse on hour 10 of their shift to figure out which trash receptacle this particular recyclable thing goes into, or to make those decisions, you're kind of already setting folks up for failure. So, a lot of my work is trying to make sure that sustainability is essentially invisible when it comes down to the individual, that the default thing that you do, the default way you move through the world and do your job and perform your duties is already sustainable before you even have to make, like, a choice or decision to do this thing or that thing.

[00:10:52] Host Amber Smith: Well, I want to talk to you about what else is in the works that Upstate tied to sustainability. I've heard of something called "Low Mow Spring." What is that?

[00:11:02] Paul Corsi: Low Mow Spring is a part of our Bee Campus affiliation, and essentially it's acknowledging that maintaining a beautiful golf course lawn is actually fairly energy intensive. In upstate New York is less of a consideration, but in other places, it's very water intensive. And so Low Mow May is just about sort of letting the lawn kind of grow and breathe a little bit, incorporating some other plants so it's not just what we call a monocultured grass, which is just a big blanket where there's just one plant growing, just grass. right?

And so we've identified a few areas on campus this year, and we're hoping to expand it next year of reducing carbon emissions by not mowing or maintaining those areas. I actually read recently that operating a gas a leaf blower for an hour has the carbon emissions of driving a car somewhere over a 1,000 miles. So some of this lawn equipment is actually fairly impactful to the environment. So, taking a little time each spring to let the lawn breathe a little bit and get a little shaggy can have some fairly significant environmental impacts.

In addition to helping native pollinators, I know dandelions aren't like the best thing for pollinators for a handful of reasons, but it always -- I will defend the dandelion because I feel like it's very maligned. You know, as soon as the dandelions start popping up, everyone tries to mow them down as quickly as possible. But they're a very important early spring food source, so a Low Mow May, a Low Mow Spring is just about allowing those kind of early food sources to survive and just about kind of letting our hair down a little bit when it comes to landscape.

[00:12:46] Host Amber Smith: Can you talk about how you're involving students on campus in some of these efforts?

[00:12:52] Paul Corsi: I love working with students. They always have some great ideas and they move through our built environment in a way that's very different from the way I move through it. So they'll let me know when it's a pain to recycle in a certain building, or if they're trying to, for example, we're working now on building a compost collection system in Geneva Tower, which is the student residence hall. So they've been really supportive, and it's really helpful to bounce ideas off them because at the end of the day, they're the ones living there who are going to compost. So they're really passionate about that.

There's a community garden on campus that's mostly student run. So they're in there weeding and watering and harvesting from early spring to late fall. Publicizing things around best practices for recycling. We've done some, like, clean up days where we go around picking up litter and trash. We're planning some things in the future where we're going to build some nest boxes for pollinators, which I'm really excited about. So, yeah, there's a lot of opportunities as a student to be involved for sure.

[00:13:55] Host Amber Smith: Well, I appreciate you making time for this interview, Mr. Corsi. Thank you.

[00:13:58] Paul Corsi: Thank you so much for having me. This was great. I appreciate it.

[00:14:01] Host Amber Smith: My guest has been Paul Corsi, who is Upstate's sustainability Manager. "The Informed Patient" is a podcast covering health, science and medicine, brought to you by Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York, and produced by Jim Howe. Find our archive of previous episodes at Upstate.edu/informed. This is your host, Amber Smith, thanking you for listening.