California is home to 25 species of bumble bees, many of which face an uncertain future. Several species, including the western bumble bee, Crotch's bumble bee, the Suckely cuckoo bumble bee, and Franklin's bumble bee, have recently experienced significant declines. In order to conserve them, the Xerces Society has partnered with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to launch the California Bumble Bee Atlas. A key aspect of this work is to train a team of volunteers equipped with nets and cameras spread throughout the state to help us understand where these species are still living, and in which habitats they thrive. This California Bumble Bee Atlas workshop is your opportunity to join the collaborative effort to track and conserve California's bumble bees!
Click here for more information and to register.

 

Leif Richardson
Conservation Biologist, California Bumble Bee Atlas - The Xerces Society

Leif Richardson is an ecologist whose work focuses on North American bumble bees, including their natural history, taxonomy, and conservation needs. He has master’s and doctoral degrees in ecology and evolutionary biology, both obtained following extensive field and lab research on the ecology of pollination interactions between bees and plants. He recently joined the Xerces Society as a conservation biologist, and is running the California Bumble Bee Atlas. Leif previously worked as an environmental consultant, conducting regulatory studies on risk of pesticide exposure to bumblebees, and as an ecologist with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. Leif is the author of numerous publications on bees, as well as co-author of Bumble Bees of North America: an Identification Guide (2014), the standard reference manual on this group of invertebrate wildlife in California and beyond. Leif is an expert in the inventory and identification of bumble bees, and has extensive experience training others to collect bumble bee distribution data in the field.
 

Rich Hatfield
Senior Conservation Biologist, Bumble Bee Conservation Lead - The Xerces Society

Rich Hatfield is a senior endangered species conservation biologist, and leads Xerces' bumble bee conservation program. He has a master's degree in conservation biology, with a focus on the ecology and habitat needs of bumble bees. Rich has authored several publications on bumble bee conservation and taught bumble bee management and identification courses throughout North America. Rich helped develop and launch the community science website Bumble Bee Watch (www.BumbleBeeWatch.org), which has attracted over 30,000 users throughout North America, and gathered over 80,000 photo observations of North American bumble bees since 2014. He also serves as the coordinator for both the Pacific Northwest and California Bumble Bee Atlas projects. In addition to his work with bumble bees, Rich has investigated native bee pollination in agricultural systems in the Central Valley of California, and studied endangered butterflies in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado and throughout the Pacific Northwest.

The nearly fifty species of bumble bees in North America are highly efficient pollinators of our natural areas and farm fields, making them essential to ecosystem function. Unfortunately, substantial declines in widespread and formerly common species have been reported. Between climate change, the widespread use of pesticides, habitat loss, and the amplification and spread of diseases from commercial bees, bumble bees face an uphill challenge to recover from observed declines, and repopulate areas where they’ve been lost. In this webinar we will discuss bumble bee ecology, how that interacts with ongoing conservation issues, and what we can all do to help. The good news is that we can all contribute. Beyond participating in our Bumble Bee Atlas projects (bumblebeeatlas.org), protecting, creating, and restoring habitat is the key. We’ll discuss how to provide critical aspects of habitat to benefit each stage of the life cycle, whether you have a small porch, or manage several acres. While this webinar is directed toward our Bumble Bee Atlas volunteers, anyone is welcome to join. The webinar will be led by the bumble bee conservation crew at the Xerces Society: Rich Hatfield, Laurie Hamon, Katie Lamke, and Leif Richardson, who will be joined by Dr. Elaine Evans of the University of Minnesota.
Click here for more information and to register.

Rich Hatfield
Senior Conservation Biologist, Bumble Bee Conservation Lead - The Xerces Society

Rich Hatfield is a senior endangered species conservation biologist, and leads Xerces' bumble bee conservation program. He has a master's degree in conservation biology, with a focus on the ecology and habitat needs of bumble bees. Rich has authored several publications on bumble bee conservation and taught bumble bee management and identification courses throughout North America. Rich helped develop and launch the community science website Bumble Bee Watch (www.BumbleBeeWatch.org), which has attracted over 30,000 users throughout North America, and gathered over 80,000 photo observations of North American bumble bees since 2014. He also serves as the coordinator for both the Pacific Northwest and California Bumble Bee Atlas projects. In addition to his work with bumble bees, Rich has investigated native bee pollination in agricultural systems in the Central Valley of California, and studied endangered butterflies in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado and throughout the Pacific Northwest.
 

Laurie Hamon
Endangered Species Conservation Biologist - The Xerces Society

Laurie is the project manager for the Southeast Bumble Bee Atlas, a community science project to track and conserve bumble bees in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee. She earned her PhD at North Carolina State University, where she conducted her thesis on the pollination ecology of Venus flytraps. She has conducted survey work for multiple rare insect species and investigated insect communities in urban pollinator gardens. Laurie has previous experience coordinating a community science project to monitor butterflies at a biological reserve in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. When the work day ends, Laurie enjoys making art and spending time outdoors.
 

Katie Lamke
Endangered Species Conservation Biologist - The Xerces Society

Based in the Midwest, Katie’s main role is to coordinate and engage people in community science projects in the region that help track and conserve bumble bees. Katie has both a skillset and passion for identifying wild bees that has been professionally developed for species in the Northern Plains. She is enthusiastic about pollinator ecology and is committed to raising awareness about the conservation of wild bees.
 

Leif Richardson
Conservation Biologist, California Bumble Bee Atlas - The Xerces Society

Leif Richardson is an ecologist whose work focuses on North American bumble bees, including their natural history, taxonomy, and conservation needs. He has master’s and doctoral degrees in ecology and evolutionary biology, both obtained following extensive field and lab research on the ecology of pollination interactions between bees and plants. He recently joined the Xerces Society as a conservation biologist, and is running the California Bumble Bee Atlas. Leif previously worked as an environmental consultant, conducting regulatory studies on risk of pesticide exposure to bumblebees, and as an ecologist with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. Leif is the author of numerous publications on bees, as well as co-author of Bumble Bees of North America: an Identification Guide (2014), the standard reference manual on this group of invertebrate wildlife in California and beyond. Leif is an expert in the inventory and identification of bumble bees, and has extensive experience training others to collect bumble bee distribution data in the field.

Herbicides, "the chemical hoe," make up more than half of global pesticide sales and use, and are widely applied in agriculture, residential landscapes, and natural areas. Along with reducing the availability of food and shelter for pollinators, herbicides may have some direct effects on insects exposed in air, soil, water, and plants. Join Emily May, Pollinator Conservation Specialist with the Pesticide Program at Xerces, to get up to speed on what's currently known about the direct and indirect effects of herbicides on pollinators.

This webinar will be recorded and available on our YouTube channel. Closed Captioning will be available during this webinar.

Click here for more information and to register.
 

Emily May
Pollinator Conservation Specialist Agricultural Lead - The Xerces Society
Emily May is a Pollinator Conservation Specialist with the Xerces Society's Pesticide Program. She received a master's of science in entomology from Michigan State University, and has studied pollinator habitat restoration, bee nesting habits, and the effects of pest management practices on wild bee communities. Her work with Xerces since 2015 has focused on supporting crop pollinators through habitat creation and protecting bees and other beneficial insects from pesticides.

Insect populations around the world are declining rapidly. But why? While habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change all have something to do with it, I show in this talk that light pollution is another important — but too often overlooked — bringer of the insect apocalypse. Light pollution interferes with the development, movement, foraging, and reproduction of diverse insect species, including many that we know and love such as fireflies. Fortunately, there are many simple things that we can all do to help reverse this driver of insect declines. Light pollution can be cheaply, easily, and instantly eliminated, and doing so can help ensure that we live in harmony with our insect friends and neighbors for generations to come.

This webinar will be recorded and available on our YouTube channel. Closed Captioning will be available during this webinar.

Click here for more information and to register.
 

Dr. Avalon C.S. Owens - The Rowland Institute at Harvard

Dr. Avalon C.S. Owens (owenslab.org) received her Ph.D. in Biology from Tufts University in spring 2022, where she studied the impact of artificial light on bioluminescent fireflies. She also holds a B.A. in Integrative Biology from Harvard University and an M.S. in Entomology from National Taiwan University.