|
To schedule an author event, please email [email protected]
|
RECENT ATTENDEE FEEDBACK
|
|
|
|
PRESENTATION TOPICS
From Canopy to Groundlayer Building Soft Landings with Keystone Plants for Pollinators This presentation explores the powerful connection between keystone plants and the insects that depend on them. You’ll learn how to implement “Soft Landings” in landscapes of all scales from home gardens to larger managed sites. This innovative habitat design and management strategy focuses on creating layered mini ecosystems beneath native trees to support pollinators throughout their life cycles. Participants will learn what defines a pollen specialist, discover examples of these fascinating bee-plant relationships, and understand how keystone plants function as foundational species in our ecosystems. You’ll benefit from practical strategies on site preparation methods, herbicide considerations, and building a resilient plant matrix of sedges, cool-season grasses, and flowering keystone species. By the end of the presentation, participants will be equipped to design and install Soft Landing plantings that transform conventional landscapes into thriving sanctuaries for bees, caterpillars, and other beneficial insects. Oaks, Fire, and Climate Change Natural landscapes in the US and Canada have been drastically altered by human activities such as infrastructure development, logging, overgrazing, introduction of invasive species, and fire suppression. However, prior to Euro-American settlement, highly functional and biodiverse oak and/or pine grassland systems dominated throughout much of the continent. With the current threat of climate change, it is crucial to understand the past and present ecological conditions of these landscapes to inform future restoration efforts. The presentation will look into the past to understand grassland systems at the time of Euro-American settlement and discuss how Native Americans managed and influenced the composition of these grassland systems with their regular use of fire. Heather will also discuss the impacts of fire as a strong selective pressure on keystone plants and bees. Pivoting to look into the future using projected climate modeling, Heather will address the ecological conditions today, focusing on oak ecosystems and grasslands, then paint a picture of what a functional, biodiverse, and resilient landscape may look like in the future, and what actions are needed to achieve these outcomes. Bumble Bee Banquet Bumble bees (Bombus) are by far the most charismatic and recognizable native bees. To help bumble bees thrive, we must understand their life cycle, nesting behaviors, and nutritional needs. Heather will illustrate the bumble bee life cycle through the growing season, the importance of selecting the right native (woody and herbaceous) plants to meet the nutritional needs of the queens, workers, males, and gynes, bumble bee habitat enhancement, and factors impacting bumble bee populations. Specialist Bees The monarch butterfly is probably the most famous insect specialist (the caterpillars feed only on milkweed), but did you know that many native bees are also specialists? Female native bee specialists or oligoleges, collect pollen from a narrow range of native plants; this could mean just one plant genus or species, or many genera that belong to one plant family. Heather will highlight many of these native plant-bee specializations as well as the overlapping habitat requirements of the bees and plants. The presentation will also include the threats to specialists such as habitat loss and climate change. Native Predatory Wasps: Their Role as Pollinators and Beneficial Insects Native bees and predatory wasps share the same lineage and also share many behaviors and habitat requirements. Predatory wasps feed their offspring insects (and spiders) and bees diverged from this carnivorous diet to feed their offspring plant-based food (pollen and nectar). Flower-rich landscapes provide critical habitat for both adult bees and wasps because they each consume flower nectar; in addition, wasps need diverse, flower-rich landscapes to hunt for their prey. Heather will highlight many amazing natural history and biology facts about native wasps illustrating their nesting habitat, prey specificity, and the ecosystems services they provide—pest insect population control and pollination. Asters and Goldenrods: Autumn’s Pollinator Banquet Asters are critical late summer and fall forage for native bees including many pollen-collecting specialists. Heather will explore the nutritional components of the nectar and pollen of asters and their fall-blooming cousins the goldenrods, and demonstrate the importance of these two groups of plants for native bees as well as migratory pollinating insects such as butterflies. What's the Buzz About Native Bees This presentation explores the nesting habitat, life cycle, pollen collection, brood rearing, and general characteristics of common genera of native bees occurring in the Midwestern, Eastern United States, and southern Canada. The pollination of native plants and the mutualism between native plants and native bees is also highlighted. Heather also discusses the presentation of floral resources and how the physical characteristics of bees can influence the bees' effectiveness as pollinators. The Pollination of Native Plants This presentation is a fascinating journey showcasing the development of different flower types and the presentation of floral resources to pollinators. Exploring the types of insect pollinators, their foraging behavior, and the floral features that attract pollinators, Heather will provide many specific examples of how native plants are pollinated and what pollinator is most effective and why. The Corner Lot - Chronicles of a Small Scale Neighborhood Restoration (Minnesota and Wisconsin audiences) In urban environments, natural landscapes that were once biodiverse and contiguous have been transformed to small and often highly degraded fragments. What potential do these sites hold for ecological restoration, pollinator habitat, and public demonstration sites? How does one go about restoring a site such as this? Step one is developing a plan that includes goals, objectives, and methods. Heather will address these steps and highlight some of the challenges, opportunities, and amazing outcomes that have unfolded in her neighborhood corner lot restoration. She will also discuss pollinator habitat enhancement and management considerations, and celebrate the diverse pollinator populations that now thrive in the corner lot. Attracting Bees and Beneficial Insects to your Fruit and Vegetable Garden Learn about the importance of insect pollination and the bees responsible for pollinating the fruits and vegetables we grow in both home and commercial landscapes. Heather will discuss in detail the genera of bees responsible for the majority of the pollination and the additional forage (flowering plants) one needs to provide to ensure that the 'flower buffet' is always open, even when the fruit or vegetable plants are not in flower. Also discussed are the beneficial insects that the native flowering plants will attract and how these insects can help reduce insect pest populations in your fruit or vegetable garden. Habitat Matters: Lessons Learned From Enhancing Native Bee Habitat on Blueberry Farms In this presentation you will learn about the current research project I am working on in Minnesota and Wisconsin blueberry farms. I discuss the project objectives and reasons for studying native bees on blueberry farms, the sampling methods, native bee candidates (for blueberry pollination services), the nesting habitat of the bees, and the native plant forage recommendations. The presentation also explores the habitat evaluation of the farms, and the considerations for what kind of forage could be provided for the native bee candidates pre, and post-blueberry bloom. |
2025 SCHEDULED EVENTS
January 29, 2025 Three Rivers Parks (closed event) February 8, 2025 Wild Ones Fox River Valley, WI February 15, 2025 Greater Greenville Master Gardener Association, SC February 23, 2025 Thinking Spot Bookstore, MN March 1, 2025 Wild Things Conference, Chicago March 3, 2025 Best Practices for Pollinators Summit March 9, 2025 Horticultural Alliance of the Hamptons, NY March 12, 2025 Collingwood Garden Club March 22, 2025 Tonkadale Nursery, MN April 1, 2025 New Jersey Native Plant Society April 5, 2025 Partners for Native Landscaping, MO April 8, 2025 New Jersey Native Plant Society April 10, 2025 Green Bexley, OH April 15, 2025 New Jersey Native Plant Society April 22, 2025 New Jersey Native Plant Society April 23, 2025 Penn State Master Gardeners April 24, 2025 Aspetuck Land Trust May 8, 2025 American Horticultural Society May 17, 2025 Monarchs Across Georgia Pollinator Symposium, Athens, GA May 22, 2025 Washington County Master Gardeners, MN June 2, 2025 Hennepin County Master Gardeners, MN June 21, 2025 Pollinator Celebration, Maiden Rock, WI July 29, 2025 Perennial Plant Association Conference, Des Moines, IA August 2, 2025 Midwest Native Plant Society, OH August 9, 2025 Adkins Arboretum, MD August 21, 2025 Rutgers Master Gardeners August 26, 2025 St. Peter Public Library, MN September 20, 2025 Wild River State Park, MN October 6, 2025 Landscape Illinois Conference Naperville, IL October 12, 2025 MN STEM Book Fest, Bakken Museum, Minneapolis October 16, 2025 Association Professional Landscape Designers November 13, 2025 Margaret Roach Speaker Series November 18, 2025 Friends of Minnehaha Park, Minneapolis January 26, 2026 University of Minnesota Pollinator Series February 3-5, 2026 Best Practices for Pollinators Summit February 13, 2026 Green Spaces Symposium (virtual) Brookside Gardens, MD February 26, 2026 Piedmont Landscape Association, VA March 4, 2026 Gateway Green Conference, Collinsville, IL March 6 & 7, 2026 Oklahoma Native Plant Society Oklahoma City and Tulsa March 25, 2026 Greenbelt-Beltsville Garden Club April 21, 2026 Olbrich Gardens, Madison, WI April 23, 2026 Minnesota River Valley Audubon, Bloomington, MN May 14, 2026 Wild Ones Prairie Edge October 3, 2026 South Dakota Statewide Master Gardener Conference Sioux Falls, SD View Listing of Past Presentations |