Thursday
April 23, 2009
7:00 pm
Simon Fraser
University, Vancouver
campus, Harbour
Centre building, Room
1800
Admission is free
but seating is limited
and reservations are
recommended. Email
cs-science@sfu.ca
to reserve your seat(s).
A Plea for the Bees’ Needs:
Pollinator declines and how to encourage backyard biodiversity
It’s in the news everywhere—the bees are in trouble. The European honeybee
annually provides $1 billion of pollination services to agriculture in Canada,
but one third of our colonies are lost each year to Colony Collapse Disorder.
The good news is that Canada has more than 800 species of native bees that
contribute to pollination services for both wild plants and our food supply.
How well are these native bees doing? Can they help to buffer our pollination
systems given honeybee declines?
Join Dr. Elizabeth Elle to learn more about why bees are in trouble, the
natural history and status of our native bees, and what you can do in your
backyard, community garden, or even on your balcony to help support
pollinators.
Lecture Sponsors
Faculty of Science,
Simon Fraser
University
Environmental
Youth Alliance
Speaker: Dr. Elizabeth Elle is Associate Professor and Associate Chair of
the Department of Biological Sciences at Simon Fraser University.
A former high school teacher, Dr. Elle is active in outreach education
about conservation and evolution, is a science advisor for the
Environmental Youth Alliance’s Pollinator’s Paradise Campaign, and serves
on the Education Committee of the International Society for the Study
of Evolution and the Science Advisory Committee for the World Wildlife
Foundation. Professionally, Dr. Elle researches pollinator diversity and conservation as a
member of the Canadian Pollination Initiative, investigating the importance of pollinators
for both crop and wild plant reproduction.
Since 1991, the
Environmental Youth
Alliance (EYA) has acted
as a catalyst for youth led
and centered sustainability
programs in the Lower
Mainland and in 15 countries
internationally. Its current
Pollinator’s Paradise initiative
has over 150 people across
Vancouver maintaining
mason bee homes in an
effort to encourage the
creation of a rich, urban
pollinator habitat. www.
eya.ca
Lecture hosted
by Continuing
Studies in
Science,
Simon Fraser
University.