This fall, the Women Food and Agriculture Network will host their first in-person conference
since 2019, in Ames, Iowa from October 7th to October 9th. This year’s theme, Nourishing our
Roots, Gathering our Community, centers on the importance of nourishing community
connections, old and new, and building collective power through connection, rest, and retreat.
Join the Xerces Society's Sarah Nizzi this year at WFAN’s conference,October 7th-9th, and connect with other farmers, food workers, artists and more through:
- Facilitated movement and mental health trainings
- Field visits to area farms
- Space for conversations focused on community care, land access, advocacy, and more!

Learn more and register here today!


Sarah Nizzi - Farm Bill Pollinator Conservation Planner - The Xerces Society
Sarah Nizzi is originally from central Iowa and is a graduate from Drake University with a bachelor's of science in environmental science. Her experience includes natural resource management in the private and public sector, native seed propagation, and private land management throughout the state of Iowa. Currently, Sarah covers all of Iowa, providing technical and financial assistance to farmers and landowners interested in pollinator conservation, as well as training NRCS and partner staff on pollinators and pollinator habitat. In her free time she enjoys recreating outdoors and volunteering for a number of NGO conservation groups.

This workshop will introduce attendees to bumble bee (Bombus spp.) identification along the Pacific Coast of the U.S. (including Idaho). While this workshop is geared toward Bumble Bee Atlas volunteers in the Pacific Northwest and California, we welcome anyone interested in learning more about bumble bee identification. We will cover the basics of bumble bee anatomy, and introduce you to each of the species you may encounter throughout the region. For each species we’ll include ID tips, and what is currently known about their preferred habitats and host plants.

Learn more and register here today! 

The workshop will be co-taught by Leif Richardson and Rich Hatfield.

California Bumble Bee Atlas: https://www.cabumblebeeatlas.org/

Pacific Northwest Bumble Bee Atlas: https://www.pnwbumblebeeatlas.org/




Leif Richardson - Conservation Biologist - California Bumble Bee Atlas - The Xerces Society 
Leif is a conservation biologist who coordinates the California Bumble Bee Atlas project. His research focuses on the ecology, distribution, and declines of North American bumble bees. Leif previously worked as an environmental consultant, studying pesticide risk to bee pollinators, and as an ecologist for Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. He is co-author of a range of scientific publications on bees, including Bumble Bees of North America: An Identification Guide (2014, Princeton University Press), the standard reference manual on this group of insects. He is an expert in the inventory and identification of bumble bees, and has extensive experience training others to collect bumble bee distribution data in the field. Leif holds a Master’s degree from the University of Arizona and a PhD from Dartmouth College.


Rich Hatfield - Senior Endangered Species Conservation Biologist - Bumble Bee Conservation Lead - The Xerces Society
Rich manages all aspects of the Xerces Society’s work on bumble bees. Rich has a master’s degree in conservation biology from San Francisco State University, and he joined the Xerces Society in 2012. While earning his degree, his thesis focused on local- and landscape-level factors that contribute to bumble bee species richness and abundance. He has also investigated native bee pollination in agricultural systems in the Central Valley of California and researched endangered butterflies in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, as well as throughout the Pacific Northwest. In addition to his skills as a research biologist, Rich also has extensive classroom teaching experience with a focus on conservation biology, ecology, and sustainability.
 

When you think of bees, you probably imagine the things they do on sunny days, like flying around and pollinating flowers. But this is only half of the story, as most of the 20,000 species of bees found around the world nest belowground, and spend the majority of their lives in darkness. What are they doing underground? How do they navigate their burrows and communicate with other bees? What happens when it rains? There are many interesting questions surrounding this lifestyle, and also plenty of uncertainties remaining to be resolved about subterranean living. In this webinar, we will learn about the diversity of ways that bees live and reproduce belowground, and we'll ponder some of those unsolved mysteries. We'll also talk about how the belowground lifestyle affects threats to bees, such as exposure to pesticides and pathogens. This webinar will cover some bees you may be familiar with, such as bumble bees, but we'll be focusing our time on soil-nesters who we generally know less about, including the many solitary bees that do not live in colonies.


This webinar will be recorded and available on our YouTube channel. Closed Captioning will be available during this webinar.

Learn more and register here today! 


Leif Richardson - Conservation Biologist & California Bumble Bee Atlas - Xerces Society
Leif is a conservation biologist who coordinates the California Bumble Bee Atlas project. His research focuses on the ecology, distribution, and declines of North American bumble bees. Leif previously worked as an environmental consultant, studying pesticide risk to bee pollinators, and as an ecologist for Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. He is co-author of a range of scientific publications on bees, including Bumble Bees of North America: An Identification Guide (2014, Princeton University Press), the standard reference manual on this group of insects. He is an expert in the inventory and identification of bumble bees, and has extensive experience training others to collect bumble bee distribution data in the field. Leif holds a Master’s degree from the University of Arizona and a PhD from Dartmouth College.

Join Isis Howard, Endangered Species Conservation Biologist with the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, to talk about the powerful ways community science is shaping the conservation of western monarch butterflies. From surveying monarchs and their milkweed host plants in the summer to counting butterflies clustering along the west coast in the winter, learn how everyday individuals are collecting important data to protect an iconic species.

This webinar will be recorded and available on our YouTube channel. Closed Captioning will be available during this webinar.

Learn more and register here today!


Isis Howard - Endangered Species Conservation Biologist, Western Monarch Community Science - Xerces Society
As an endangered species conservation biologist, Isis works in California to protect and support the western population of monarch butterflies. She manages several community science projects, including the annual Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count and the Western Monarch Milkweed Mapper, and provides support to land managers and the public on maintaining and restoring western monarch breeding habitat. Prior to joining Xerces, Isis worked for a resource conservation district and the North Coast Soil Hub, advancing climate adaptation work in the agricultural sector, engaging diverse community partners, and expanding the RCDs' western monarch and pollinator program. Originally from Sonoma County, CA, Isis is an experienced outdoor educator and holds a bachelor's degree in environmental management and protection with a minor in biology from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. In her free time, Isis enjoys listening to podcasts, trying new creative outlets, and advocating for diversity and inclusion in the outdoors.

Dr. Ray Moranz will begin by presenting on the basic aspects of monarch biology, including the life cycle, the use for milkweeds as host plant, the incorporation of cardiac glycosides as a chemical defense, and the vulnerability of this species to various predators, parasites, parasitoids and diseases. However, the heart of the talk will be on monarch migration, and how monarch biology changes in fascinating ways from month to month as they move from one region of North America to another. He will do his best to provide information relevant to people from Saskatchewan to Mexico City, and from Nova Scotia to Cuba, and everywhere in between. He will conclude by talking about some things you can do to help monarchs where you live.

This webinar will be recorded and available on our YouTube channel. Closed Captioning will be available during this webinar.

Learn more and register here today!


Ray Moranz - Grazing Lands Pollinator Ecologist, Partner Biologist for the NRCS Central National Technology Support Center - Xerces Society 
Ray works to conserve pollinators on rangelands in the central U.S., and he also serves as a Partner Biologist to the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service’s (NRCS) Central National Technology Support Center in Fort Worth, TX. He is based at the NRCS Field Office in Stillwater, Oklahoma. One focus of his work is to assist in the planning and implementation of monarch butterfly conservation efforts in the south central U.S.. Ray began studying the effects of fire and grazing on prairie plant and butterfly communities in 2004, and earned his Ph.D. in natural resource ecology and management from Oklahoma State University in 2010. Prior to joining the Xerces Society, he worked for The Nature Conservancy in Florida, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in California, Iowa State University, and Oklahoma State University.