Project: Pollinator Hotel

Eva wanted to do something to offset the decline of fifteen endangered species of pollinating insects in Michigan.

Eva’s Gold Award project involved constructing and installing a “pollinator station” at a local nature center.

Creature comforts

The Pollinator Hotel opened for business in For-Mar Nature Preserve in the fall of 2024, providing a safe habitat for long-term, seasonal hibernators. Eva and her team stocked it with sticks, bark, and tree limbs beneficial to buggy guests.

“It’s a pollinator habitat, demonstration gardens and a living classroom, to help the community learn about urban ecology,” she explained. The goal is to educate people on the importance of bees and other insects.

“Building a bug hotel is a project anyone can do in their own backyard, and I want people to embrace this idea and spread it throughout the world,” Eva said.

She partnered with www.iNaturalist.org, a world-wide website where citizen scientists share their findings to help record biodiversity. “Scientists will use the data from my project to combat the decline of important insect species in Michigan,” she said.

Gold Lessons

In addition to some basic construction methods, Eva also honed her public speaking, leadership and coordination skills.

“I learned to have faith in myself that I will get things accomplished,” she said. “I never knew that I was capable of leading a team.”

Eva is a graduate of Carman-Ainsworth High School and was a member of Troop 13303. She will be attending Ball State University in the Fall 2025 earning my DVM, Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine

Find out more

Eva chats about her Gold Award journey on our YouTube channel. Visit www.gssem.org/highestawards to learn more about the Girl Scouts Gold Awards.