City campaigns to save the bees
I’m Ashley Roelofs, a spring 2025 Green Corps Campaigner. Growing up in Southern California, I swam in the Pacific, hiked trails in our Chaparral biome and camped in Yosemite National Park. These experiences inspired me to protect and conserve our world for future generations.
That's why I studied Molecular Environmental Biology at UC Berkeley. I believed that we just needed to develop the right technologies to address environmental problems. I soon realized that scientists have made so much progress and we have developed many solutions to climate change, but those solutions often go unused. Upon graduation, I wanted to escape that feeling of relative helplessness and make a more immediate impact on the planet. When I heard about environmental organizing and the training that Green Corps provides, I applied right away.
During my first classroom training in Boston this January I learned about campaign development, volunteer recruitment and training volunteers to continue the work after I left. I then traveled to Newark to work with NJPIRG and mobilize student volunteers on environmental campaigns across northern New Jersey, including efforts to save the bees, protect the North Atlantic Right whale and advance our right to repair.
I quickly learned that being an organizer can mean training volunteers on specific skills while performing these skills for the first time myself. Forty-two volunteers attended our kickoff meeting in January, and those volunteers spent countless hours educating the public on critical campaigns, engaging local businesses and coordinating campaign events.
Forty-two students attended our kickoff meeting in January 2025.
Our priority campaign is Save the Bees. In New Jersey, up to 50% of bee colonies die off each year, threatening 75% of food crops and biodiversity in the Garden State. We’re working to get cities across New Jersey to pass bee-friendly resolutions such as agreeing to ban toxic pesticides and protect pollinator habitats. We are meeting with mayors, gathering petition signatures from students and community members and building a coalition of supporters to influence elected officials to implement change.
Looking ahead, I want to continue driving change by working at the intersection of policy and grassroots activism. With collective action, we can turn the tide for pollinators and our environment.
