At UNT's Pollinative Prairie, located at the university's 300-acre Discovery Park research facility, a team of faculty, staff and students tend to the patch of Texas tall grass in an effort to increase native plant and animal biodiversity on campus. They aren't alone. In its mission to inspire ecological responsibility, UNT plays host to environmental initiatives ranging from the Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area to the We Mean Green Fund.

Now, the Bee Campus USA university is adding a bee expert: Elinor Lichtenberg, a leading plant-pollinator researcher, will join the biology faculty beginning in January. Lichtenberg's research looks at the impact of human activities that remove wildlife habitats, as well as those that maintain them, including grassland restoration.

"I love the strong emphasis UNT's biology department has in environmental science and research," Lichtenberg says. "That's a good match for my research, which combines fundamental questions and applied questions to ask how we can use science to move our conservation efforts forward."