Australian Pollinator Week Webinar

Join the Wheen Bee Foundation for a free webinar on Wednesday, 11 November at 7pm AEDT, to celebrate Australian Pollinator Week.

Coordinated by the Wheen Bee Foundation, Australian Pollinator Week is a national celebration of the diversity and importance of Australia’s pollinators.

In keeping with this year’s theme, Pollinator Education: Inspiring the next generation, the webinar’s guests will share how they inspire young people to care for pollinators and nature.

The webinar is hosted by Clancy Lester an environmental educator and science communicator focused on pollinators, urban biodiversity and climate. Through his website Bees & Blossoms, he delivers workshops and presentations on native pollinators.

Meet the speakers below:

Speaker #1 Alison Melor

Alison Mellor is a science communicator with Invertebrates Australia and helps Australians discover the extraordinary but often overlooked world of insects, spiders and other invertebrates. She co-leads the national citizen science initiative Bug Hunt in collaboration with the Invasive Species Council, and empowers people of all ages to contribute to biodiversity monitoring and protecting Australia’s hidden wildlife through using the citizen science app iNaturalist.

Speaker #2 Peta Deacon

Peta Deacon has always had a passion for gardening and insects. Growing up with farming and plant nurseries in her family, she always knew her life and career would follow a similar path. She has worked in the horticulture industry for over 20 years, with experience spanning landscaping, small-scale farming, fruit picking, plant nurseries and running her own horticultural teaching business for children. She now works as a horticultural educator at Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens and looks forward to sharing her horticultural journey with you.

Speaker #3 Mark Hall

Mark Hall is a wildlife ecologist with extensive experience in native pollinator biology and behaviour. His PhD centred around agricultural landscapes, exploring how native vegetation in and around farms can support birds and pollinators. He has worked extensively with the horticulture industry to understand pollination services and the importance of native bees and is the past president of the Australian Native Bee Association. He currently works as the Senior Biodiversity Officer for the City of Greater Bendigo, where he engages the local community, schools, Landcare and others in pollinator conservation.

There will be time at the end of the webinar to ask the speakers questions.

A link to join the webinar will be emailed to registered participants the day before the event.