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Meeting Schedule: 7:00 pm Welcome & Announcements 7:10 pm Program/Presentation |
November-March meetings are Zoom only
All of our meetings and garden tours are free and open to the public. Please invite a friend! October, November, April and May meetings will be in person. However, there may be a Zoom option. January, February and March meetings are Zoom only. |
May 14th, Heather Holm will give an in-person presentation on
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Natural landscapes in the US and Canada have been drastically altered by human activities such as infrastructure development, logging, overgrazing, the introduction of invasive species, and fire suppression. However, before 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 examine the past to understand grassland systems at the time of Euro-American settlement and discuss how Native Americans managed and influenced their composition through 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 ahead through climate projections, Heather will address today's ecological conditions, 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.
About Heather: Heather Holm is a pollinator conservationist and award-winning author of four books: Pollinators of Native Plants (2014), Bees (2017), Wasps (2021), and Common Native Bees of the Eastern United States (2022). Both Bees and Wasps have won multiple book awards, including the American Horticultural Society Book Award (2018 and 2022, respectively). She is the founder and chair of Minnesota Native Bees, an online field guide illustrating the native bees of Minnesota and beyond. Heather’s expertise includes interactions between native pollinators and native plants, as well as the natural history and biology of native bees and predatory wasps. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune, and many local publications. Heather is also an accomplished photographer, and her pollinator photos are frequently featured in print and electronic publications.
Heather serves on the boards of the following non-profits: Friends of Cullen Nature Preserve and Bird Sanctuary, Friends of Minnetonka Parks, and the new Minnesota Oak Savanna Chapter of The Prairie Enthusiasts. In her spare time, she is an active community supporter, writing grants, coordinating, and participating in volunteer ecological landscape restoration projects of fire-dependent ecosystems. The latest project is a 13-acre oak savanna restoration that will provide thriving habitat for pollinators, birds, and mammals, as well as passive, nature-based opportunities for people.
FOLLOW HEATHER ONLINE:
Facebook: PollinatorsNativePlants
Instagram: beesnativeplants
YouTube: @NativeBeesWasps
Photography Website: www.pollinatorphotos.com
iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/people/723565
The presentation will examine the past to understand grassland systems at the time of Euro-American settlement and discuss how Native Americans managed and influenced their composition through 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 ahead through climate projections, Heather will address today's ecological conditions, 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.
About Heather: Heather Holm is a pollinator conservationist and award-winning author of four books: Pollinators of Native Plants (2014), Bees (2017), Wasps (2021), and Common Native Bees of the Eastern United States (2022). Both Bees and Wasps have won multiple book awards, including the American Horticultural Society Book Award (2018 and 2022, respectively). She is the founder and chair of Minnesota Native Bees, an online field guide illustrating the native bees of Minnesota and beyond. Heather’s expertise includes interactions between native pollinators and native plants, as well as the natural history and biology of native bees and predatory wasps. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune, and many local publications. Heather is also an accomplished photographer, and her pollinator photos are frequently featured in print and electronic publications.
Heather serves on the boards of the following non-profits: Friends of Cullen Nature Preserve and Bird Sanctuary, Friends of Minnetonka Parks, and the new Minnesota Oak Savanna Chapter of The Prairie Enthusiasts. In her spare time, she is an active community supporter, writing grants, coordinating, and participating in volunteer ecological landscape restoration projects of fire-dependent ecosystems. The latest project is a 13-acre oak savanna restoration that will provide thriving habitat for pollinators, birds, and mammals, as well as passive, nature-based opportunities for people.
FOLLOW HEATHER ONLINE:
Facebook: PollinatorsNativePlants
Instagram: beesnativeplants
YouTube: @NativeBeesWasps
Photography Website: www.pollinatorphotos.com
iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/people/723565