This program will begin at 7 pm and last approximately an hour. Please register in advance for this webinar since registrations will close at 3 PM on the day of the event. You will receive an email confirmation after you have registered. If after registering, you cannot attend, please cancel your registration (as indicated on your confirmation) so someone else may use the slot.
Pollinator Meadow-Making at Brandeis University: Lessons Learned
Starting with a small plot in 2016, a vibrantly colorful and diverse pollinator meadow has grown to cover a half-acre of former lawn, close to the center of the Brandeis campus. This successful habitat-making project was catalyzed by undergraduate student Matt Smetana, who back in 2015 requested permission to install a small patch of wildflowers to support local insects. Matt obtained funding for several scores of plants from the Brandeis University Sustainability Fund and sought faculty support from Brandeis ecologist Dr. Eric Olson. With work from 2017 on by Eric and other faculty, the meadow continued to thrive, and the Brandeis administration eventually gave the go-ahead to expand the meadow to ten times its original size. By 2019, student and faculty surveys of pollinators and other meadow life demonstrated in striking fashion just how quickly we can give biodiversity a boost, even in a thickly settled community like Waltham. In this webinar Dr. Olson will describe the stages of this transformation, and will reflect on lessons learned. The talk is supplemented by an annotated bibliography of how-to books, articles, websites, and videos, that also lists local organizations ready to help homeowners, schools, parks, and others to do their part supporting native bees and butterflies.
Our presenter is Eric Olson, who recently retired from Brandeis University, where he taught Field Biology and other courses for many years.
