community science

Ann Puddicombe is among the top ten Bumble Bee Watch submitters in North America and top three in Ontario. She has contributed close to 500 records, including 13 species from 242 verified records. But that’s not all. A self-described bumble bee advocate, Ann has voluntarily given presentations on bumble bees to community groups, conducted her own independent bumble bee surveys, and advised local groups in creating pollinator habitat.

Did you beat the odds this year and spot a bumble bee nest? If so, we really want to hear from you for York University’s #Quest4BeeNests research project!

Protecting, restoring, and enhancing firefly habitat is one of the best ways to conserve their populations. In addition, collecting data on firefly populations and distributions will contribute to a better understanding of their conservation status and needs. This is why we have initiated the Xerces Society’s firefly conservation campaign: Conserving the Jewels of the Night.

Staff from the Xerces Society and our partners have been keeping close eyes on the imperiled western monarch population at study sites in California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho as part of a multi-year collaborative research project.

Rich Hatfield, senior endangered species conservation biologist and bumble bee lead for the Xerces Society, trekked into Washington state’s Pasayten Wilderness to find the elusive high country bumble bee (Bombus kirbiellus).

Sarah Nizzi, Farm Bill Pollinator Conservation Planner and NRCS Partner Biologist, writes about a recent workshop in Iowa and a sighting of the endangered rusty patched bumble bee.

Western monarch researchers and community scientists have been busy, contributing information vital to understanding the situation facing this imperiled population.

Fireflies are some of our most well-loved insects—yet their numbers appear to be dwindling. One likely driver for this decline is light pollution. Put simply, fireflies need dark nights.

The Xerces Society is working across the U.S. to conserve this beloved species, and there are a number of ways you can help!

Work alongside researchers to collect data and support bumble bee conservation.

We need all hands on deck this season, to better understand the hurdles facing the imperiled western monarch population!

Wildlife Preservation Canada’s efforts to conserve native bumble bees would be nothing without help from our volunteer community scientists across the country, and without Bumble Bee Watch.

Helping the monarch back to full health isn’t going to be easy or quick, but together we can transform the landscape to allow the monarch to rebound—and give our children the gift of watching orange wings flap in the sunshine.

Robbin Thorp, Professor Emeritus at University of California–Davis, has made lasting contributions to the bee conservation community in ways that might never be measured, but will certainly be felt.

The Xerces Society’s blog post “Picking Plants for Pollinators: The Cultivar Conundrum” highlighted the lack of research on this topic. To help address this knowledge gap, Budburst launched the Nativars research project in 2018.

Researchers at York University are recruiting members from across North America for a very important mission. Your assignment, should you choose to accept it: find and submit sightings of bumble bee nests.

While hiking in California and the rest of the West, you can help researchers by submitting any and all monarch and milkweed observations this year to the Western Monarch Milkweed Mapper website.

Overall, the count data revealed an average decrease of 38% between the Thanksgiving and New Year’s counts.

We urge you to join us and our colleagues in the western monarch science and conservation community in taking meaningful, swift action to help save western monarchs.

November’s featured staff hail from Minnesota, Indiana, and California, and have been conducting training and outreach events, helping General Mills to implement their plan to plant 3,300 acres of pollinator habitat, and monitoring farm habitat plantings in the San Joaquin Valley.

The California overwintering population has been reduced to less than 0.5% of its historical size, and has declined by 86% compared to 2017.

What can you do to help the monarch? Protect habitat, avoid pesticide use, plant gardens, and contribute data to Xerces-led community science efforts.

Instead of rearing—which is risky and unproven in helping monarchs—we should focus on more effective, science-backed ways to conserve these glorious wild animals.

During this year's Pollinator Week (June 18 to 24) multiple locations in Ontario and Alberta were buzzing with activity, including an assortment of Bumble Bee Watch community-science training events led by Wildlife Preservation Canada.

This past February, Bumble Bee Watch users were invited to take a survey run by York University researchers to learn more about participant demographics, motives, and confidence with bumble bee identification.

A new guide to protecting the monarch butterfly from the Pacific to the Rockies presents a holistic approach to monarch conservation.

Here are some ways you can work to promote a healthy planet for invertebrates and the people they let share their planet.

As the anniversary of the March for Science approaches, we reflect on ways science has informed our conservation efforts over the past year.

The Xerces Society's Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count provides a long-running record of the number of monarchs overwintering in California-including the steep decline of recent decades.

Unusual fall weather may have contributed to the lowest overwintering western monarch population recorded since 2012.

Begun in 2015 at one location in Ontario, Wildlife Preservation Canada has expanded Bumbe Bee Watch citizen science training programs to multiple locations across Canada. The programs are held in areas with historical observations of at-risk species.

Observations from Bumble Bee Watch show the common eastern bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) far outside of its native range.

Contributions to the community science program Bumble Bee Watch are expanding our understanding of where species have been - and potentially where they are going.

Science underpins all that we do. That's why we're proud to be partners in the 2017 March for Science.

For 40 years, the monarch migration phenomena has been recognized as a conservation priority.

While you may be familiar with the impressive monarch clusters, family-friendly amenities, and helpful docents at Pismo Beach, Pacific Grove, Natural Bridges, and Ardenwood Historic Farm, there are many more places monarchs overwinter along the coast.

Calling all nature enthusiasts! Do you have a smartphone and want to use it to explore, identify, and marvel at the diversity of dragonfly and damselfly fauna in your backyard, local wetland, or favorite trout stream? Well, now you can!