Join Russel Barsh of Kwiaht for a fascinating lecture “The Beauty of Wild Native Bees” on Friday, March 22 @ 5:30 pm.
Recording of this lecture here.
“The Beauty of Wild Native Bees”. Russel Barsh shares a decade of experience identifying native pollinators and documenting their role in island ecosystems including farms, gardens, and wildlands. He contends that conserving native pollinators is a necessity for building a sustainable and affordable local food system; and that the principal threats to wild native bees are pesticide use, unwitting destruction of nesting habitat, and mistaking pollinators for harmful and hurtful insects that they are not.
The nonprofit conservation biology laboratory Kwiaht was established on Lopez in 2006 with a mission of “science for stewardship” of the San Juan Islands. Long-term studies include the marine food web supporting forage fishes and Chinook salmon; acoustic tracking of birds, bats and fish; emerging wildlife diseases such as avian flu and tick-borne parasites;and local food security including heritage and seedling fruit trees and traditional native food plants. Kwiaht is supported by federal, state, and foundation research grants and by community donations and volunteers.
