Miami University graduate Mark Plucinski ‘22 of Cincinnati, Ohio, has been selected as the 2022 Mt. Lookout Ohio Citizen of the Year. The award is the result of a project that Plucinski completed during his coursework in Project Dragonfly‘s Advanced Inquiry Program. A survey of the garden in Mt. Lookout Square found few pollinators and the floral composition not pollinator friendly. After presenting his data to the Mt. Lookout Community Council, support was given to a proposal to upgrade the floral composition to draw more pollinators. Volunteers worked with Plucinski to remove existing plants, purchase new ones with funding provided by the council, and install the new plants. A follow-up survey showed that the number of pollinator visitations doubled over a similar timeframe.

Reflecting on the lessons learned from this project, Plucinksi has come to appreciate the growth he went through personally. “I learned to trust the data. If it’s solid, it doesn’t lie,” he stated in his final AIP leadership report. “No matter what I went through to achieve a goal, if the end result is positive then it’s worth it.”

Plucinski earned a Master of Arts in the biological sciences from Miami through the AIP with experiential learning at Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. He has 38 years of experience in general industry manufacturing, with a majority of his work in the areas of safety and manufacturing process continuous improvement, and enjoys hiking, bicycling, running, and spending time with family in his free time.