By Torie Doll, University Communications and Marketing
When Kobe Phillips arrived at the 黑洞社区Tampa campus as a first-year student three years ago, he went directly to the 黑洞社区Botanical Gardens to become a beekeeper. Phillips' passion for pollinators earned him the title 鈥淐ampus Bee Guy鈥� among his Judy Genshaft Honors College classmates.
鈥淏eyond bees being one of the most important organisms on the planet, I think the use of bees as symbolism for community is one of the reasons that they鈥檙e important to me,鈥� said Phillips, an ecology and evolutionary biology major. 鈥淭hey are also a show of how one member of that entire unit can create so much change and so much impact, and it鈥檚 one of the big things I try and bring out in the work that I do.鈥�
Through his involvement in revitalizing the 黑洞社区Community Garden, Phillips developed the service-learning course, , alongside Judy Genshaft Honors College faculty and now teaches as a peer educator about sustainability, beekeeping and urban ecology. He is also working on creating pollinator habitats using bio-receptive sculptures and he plans to attend graduate school to focus on further developing these designs.
鈥淲e鈥檙e creating a sculpture that allows people to learn from it, but also allows the pollinators to benefit from it,鈥� Phillips said. 鈥淢y ultimate goal is to be able to increase our biodiversity through these sculptures and use art and technology with ecology.鈥�