Cultivating Healthy Plants
An IPM Webinar SeriesGetting to Know the Bees in Your Backyard
There are nearly 4,000 different kinds of bees living in North America, yet most people are only familiar with one or two (often honey bees and bumble bees). Dr. Joe Wilson, professor at Utah State University, will introduce you to the diverse world of native bees and describe how these bees might be different than what you expect. He will also discuss how we can help these important pollinators.
Joseph Wilson grew up in Utah and was biologically inclined from birth, in fact at the age of 2 he declared to his parents that when he grew up he wanted to be a lion. While he didn’t quite make it to lionhood, his academic studies in biology at Utah State University provided the training to be the next best thing, a professor of biology. His research focuses primarily on the evolution and ecology of bees and wasps. Why bees and wasps? Well, Joseph says that the lives of bees and wasps provide as much drama, mystery, humor, and intrigue as any prime time TV show, but without the commercials. As a way to share his fascination of bees, Joseph, along with his colleague Olivia Carril, recently authored several books including field guides to bees and“The Bees in Your Backyard: A Guide to North America's Bees.” He has been invited to share his knowledge about bees on NPR, Canada Public Radio, and at speaking events across the country. Joseph loves that his research enables him, with his wife and 3 kids, to travel around the country collecting and photographing the beautiful bees and wasps that live all around us.
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Cultivating Healthy Plants
An IPM Webinar Series
The Extension IPM family of programs are sponsored in part by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).
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