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Category Archives: science
2019 Native Plant Field Season Update
I’m thrilled to announce that this summer I completed the third field season of my study. This is slightly bittersweet – while I’m excited that we are done with hot fieldwork, I will miss chasing bees around the farm and … Continue reading
Posted in bees, Native Plants, science
Tagged bees, field research, honey bees, native bees, Native Plants
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Unpopular Opinion: Saving Honey Bees Does Very Little to Save the Bees
Although I have been studying garden bees for the past three years, I was never focused on honey bees. From a biodiversity point of view, they are not very interesting to me. They are non-native and abundant. In fact, honey … Continue reading
Posted in bees, science
Tagged bee-washing, competition, garden bees, honey bees, native bees
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How Alan Alda Helped Me to Become a Better Teacher
A few weeks ago, I tweeted about the difference that the Alda Center for Communicating Science has made in my teaching. To my sincere surprise and delight, Mr. Alda, himself, quoted my tweet, in one of his own. It made … Continue reading
Native Plants and Pollinator Survey
Aaron Anderson is repeating his original survey on native plants and pollinators. This time, he is trying to understand how knowledge of a plant’s ecological function may alter impressions of native plants. The survey takes about 25-30 minutes to complete. … Continue reading
Posted in Beneficial Insects, Native Plants, science
Tagged Aaron, ecology research, Garden Bee, Garden Pollinator, Native Plants
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Is the Insect Apocalypse Upon Us?
With all due respect to Beyonce, insects were recognized as ‘The Little Things that Run the World‘ by entomologist E.O. Wilson, decades before Beyonce’s 2011 hit song. As Wilson wrote in his iconic perspective piece: The truth is that we … Continue reading
Isabella Featured on Pollination Podcast
Isabella Messer has been a member of the Garden Ecology Lab for more than two years, where she primarily assists with the garden pollinators study, but will is also developing her own research project. Her independent research project will look … Continue reading
Pollinator Survey
Lauren Bennett, a Master’s student at OSU, is doing her capstone project on pollinators She has a short survey (10-15 minutes) on pollinators and pollinator plants. If you could spare a few moments of your time, we would appreciate your … Continue reading
Posted in Beneficial Insects, science
Tagged ecology research, garden plants, Garden Pollinator, Lauren
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Master Gardener Input Needed!
We are soliciting Master Gardener feedback on the attractiveness of the native wildflowers that Aaron Anderson is studying for pollinator plantings. More detail on the study can be found at: http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/gardenecologylab/native-plants-2/ As we mention, not only are we interested in … Continue reading
First Publication from the Garden Ecology Lab!
Our paper on the potential for bee movements between gardens and urban/peri-urban agriculture has been published in a special issue on Agroecology in the City, in the journal Sustainability. Langellotto, G.A.; Melathopoulos, A.; Messer, I.; Anderson, A.; McClintock, N.; Costner, L. … Continue reading
Posted in Beneficial Insects, garden ecology, science
Tagged Garden Bee, Garden Pollinator
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Urban Soils Update, May 2018
Urban agriculture has received a lot of attention over the past decade, as more folks are looking to localize their food supply, reduce food miles, and/or exert greater control over their food. Urban agriculture, however, brings a distinct set of … Continue reading
Posted in Lab News, science, urban soils
Tagged garden soils, soil sampling, soil test, urban soils
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