Bee Friendly! Protecting pollinators in the Rogue Valley (Talk)

Bee Friendly! and learn about current efforts to protect and restore pollinator populations in southern Oregon. In this “quick talk” format, we’ll hear two 25 minute talks from local pollinator aficionados. Travis Owen, will share incredible local pollinator photographs and interesting information about native pollinators. Kristina LeFever will discuss community efforts to reform pesticide policy and use, as well as grassroots strategies for creating more pollinator-friendly habitat.

Get involved! We’ll discuss ways that everyone can get involved with pollinator protection and enhancing pollinator habitat in their yards.

Travis Owen: 

Travis Owen is a self-described nature enthusiast with a passion for pollination ecology and the role of pollinators in the environmental context of Southern Oregon. His passions have grown and evolve over time. In his twenties he was a DJ, then taught himself to build furniture, began to learn the ways of plants, then pollinators. All the while, he was teaching himself how to take pictures and write about what he sees on his fantastic website: the Amateur Anthecologist.  He recently founded the Easy Bees Company, a commercial beekeeping startup offering products and services delivered with integration of science & ecology.

Kristina Lefever:

Kristina moved to the Rogue Valley in 2012 and immediately became enamored with the re- gion’s flora and fauna, especially our pollinators. At the same time, she began learning about the unprecedented decline of all pollinators and the associated implications for our food system and ecosystem.

She and her husband turned their barren property in Ashland into a pollinator garden, with many native plants, trees – and dandelions – but of course it’s never finished. She intends to leave more bare (unmulched) soil to provide nesting areas for native bees! Kristina loves teaching about our native bees, butterflies, flies, wasps, beetles, and humming- birds, and the plants and habitats that best support them.

Kristina is president of Pollinator Project Rogue Valley, chair of Bee City USA Ashland, a board member of Beyond Toxics, and a certified Jackson County Master Gardener. Her dream is that everyone’s yard will include a little or a lot of pollinator habitat, even if it’s just a pot of nepeta (catmint) on the porch.