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Press & Media

Xerces Society staff are respected as reliable sources of science-based advice at the forefront of invertebrate protection, and can provide information and perspective on all aspects of invertebrate conservation.

Our team includes nationally recognized experts on a range of issues, including insect declines, protecting endangered species, climate change impacts, pollinator conservation, pesticide risk, habitat creation, and wildlife gardening. We work to understand and protect insects and other invertebrates in all landscapes, from wildlands to backyards.

In each of the last three years, Xerces staff were quoted or our work was mentioned in thousands of media articles that reached over one billion people worldwide.

We’re happy to give media interviews. Please direct all inquiries to Matthew Shepherd, (503) 232-6639 or [email protected]

For general information about our work, please see our blog, publications, and other information on our website. Follow us on social media for the latest updates, as well.


Recent Press Releases

Lacewings, lady beetles and flower flies are just a few of the beneficial insect groups that attack crop pests and reduce the need for pesticides. To increase the abundance and diversity of these hardworking insects on farms, the Xerces Society is pleased to announce the release of Farming with Native Beneficial Insects, the most comprehensive book ever developed on the subject of natural pest control.
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation together with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) filed a complaint today against the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service asking them to take action on a petition to grant Endangered Species Act (ESA) protection to the rusty patched bumble bee. The rusty patched bumble bee is not only an important pollinator of prairie wildflowers, but also of cranberries, blueberries, apples, alfalfa, and numerous other crops. This bee was previously common across the Upper Midwest and Eastern Seaboard, but in recent years it has been lost from 87% of its historic range.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced that it will manage mosquitoes on the approximately 300 acres of the Ni-les’tun Unit of the Bandon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge using only the biological pesticide Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti) to kill mosquito larvae, until the breeding habitat created inadvertently during a restoration project in 2011 has been remediated.
Scott Black, executive director of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, attended the White House Pollinator Initiative Stakeholder meeting Wednesday, and provided oral and written comments on how the White House can protect the diverse array of pollinators.
In a letter delivered to the White House on Monday, leading monarch scientists, farmers, and educators asked President Obama and the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to direct five federal agencies, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Service, Farm Service Agency and Bureau of Land Management, to establish a monarch butterfly recovery initiative to restore habitat for this species on both public and private lands.