Dr. Gretchen LeBuhn, Professor of Biology at San Francisco State University, will kick off Tabor Academy’s Science at Work Lecture Series on October 12 at 6:30 pm in Lyndon South Auditorium in the Stroud Academic Center at 232 Front Street, Marion. Her talk is free and open to the public.
Dr. LeBuhn, a widely published scientist on the topic of conservation biology with a special interest in the plight of North American bees, will speak about the power of citizen science. She has lectured internationally, most recently at The White House as part of the forum entitled, “Open Science and Innovation: All Hands on Deck.”
Citizen science – scientific research conducted in whole or part by amateur scientists – has emerged as a new tool for studying biodiversity and ecosystem services. Over the past five years, the field of citizen science has exploded and citizen scientists can be found doing research on everything from galaxies to disease. Dr. LeBuhn leads the largest international citizen science project on pollinators in the world and is a leading scientist in the field.
She will talk about the role of citizen science in biodiversity research and what makes these programs successful. As the lead author on the Pollination Assessment for the Intergovernmental Platform Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, the leading intergovernmental body for assessing the state of the planet’s biodiversity, its ecosystems and the essential services they provide to society, and the technical advisor for GEF/UNEP/FAO’s Global Action on Pollination Services for Sustainable Agriculture, LeBuhn designed a monitoring program implemented in seven countries now regarded as standard protocol for assessing bee diversity.
The plight of the bees impacts our very life on earth. Come learn about what is being done, and how you can help to hopefully reverse their declining populations.