Oregon just hosted its largest Pollinator Week in its history and we thought it was a great opportunity to catch up with some of the people who made the over 20 events in the state happen. We start the episode at the Pollinator Festival in Klamath Falls (June 22) where we caught up with Dr. Nicole Sanchez (Assistant Professor, Horticulture, OSU) and Akimi King (Biologist, US Fish and Wildlife Service), we then met up with Rich Little (Linn County Master Gardeners, Oregon Bee Atlas) and Tim Wydronek (Linn Benton Beekeepers Association) at the event at the Corvallis Farmers Market (June 23), followed by Pam Leavitt (Lane County Beekeepers Association) and Alison Center (North American Butterfly Association) at the Eugene Science Center (June 23). The episode concludes at the final event of Oregon Pollinator Week at the High Desert Museum in Bend with Margaret Marshall (Master Gardeners) and Louise Shirley (Natural History Curator, High Desert Museum). It’s a great episode to learn how to engage the public around issues of pollinator health.
Listen in to this special episode to learn how young students can learn about pollinator science and health, and the way education is changing young minds.
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“It’s so cool to see so many kids out here checking out pollinators, and how sophisticated they are and how they really do know a lot about these insects already.” – Nicole Sanchez
Show Notes:
- How Nicole is engaging school children in pollinator education
- Why microscopes are a key component of early science education
- The role of flies in pollination
- Why kids will probably remember the time they made “bombs” for Oregon Pollinator Week
- The importance of monarch butterflies in Klamath Falls
- Why people need to know the difference between bees and wasps
- How Tim is cleverly showing the importance of pollinators in our food
- Tim’s advice for people interested in keeping bees of their own
- Why Pam believes early childhood education is crucial
- How education is changing fear of bees into curiosity
- How to help out the monarch butterfly population
- What makes Bend’s High Desert Museum unique
- How the location of the High Desert Museum helps immerse it’s attendees
“I think the National Pollinator Week is very important because it gives us an opportunity to remind people what role pollinators play in their health.” – Rich Little
Links Mentioned:
- Learn more about Critters in the spotlight for ‘Pollinator Celebration’ (Klamath Falls)
- Find out more about our guests and their organizations
- Check out some of the resources mentioned in this episode: