Plight of bumble bees the topic of UBC Okanagan-sponsored talk

KELOWNA – The importance of bumble bees, and the health of the general bee population, is the topic of conversation at the next Public Art Pollinator Pasture Project on Tuesday, January 12.

The University of Calgary’s Ralph Cartar is the featured guest with a talk called “The Lives of Bumble Bees in the Anthropocene.” This is the second event in the Pollinizing Sessions: A Series of Talks and Workshops to Learn About Pollinators in Our Community, organized by UBC Associate Prof. Nancy Holmes.

“We’ll learn a great deal about the plight of bumble bees from Dr. Cartar,” says Holmes, who teaches in the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies. “Pollination helps the well-being of all species and ecosystems, but there is a lack of awareness of the importance of pollinating insects — an amazing and precious species.”

UBC Okanagan and Emily Carr University have teamed up for a three-year partnership project with the City of Kelowna and the City Richmond to create community and public art projects around bees.

“The Pollinizing Sessions are our first step to educate ourselves, our partners, and the community about issues around the plight of bees,” says Holmes.

Cartar has studied the ecology of bumble bees in B.C. and Alberta for more than 30 years, starting with his doctoral research at Simon Fraser University. He and his students at the University of Calgary have investigated the behaviour of bumble bees across a range of natural and human-altered landscapes.

The Pollinizing Sessions will host a series of eight talks and three workshops this year. For a complete list of these sessions see: blogs.ubc.ca/theecoartincubator/the-pollinizing-sessions/.

Cartar’s talk is Tuesday, Jan. 12 at the Kelowna branch of the Okanagan Regional Library, 1380 Ellis Street, starting at 7 p.m. Admission is free but people are encouraged to pre-register at pollinizingsessions-cartar.eventbrite.ca.

The series is sponsored by the UBC’s Okanagan campus, the Okanagan Regional Library, the Public Art Pollinator Pasture Project, and Border Free Bees. Find out more information by contacting Nancy Holmes at 250-764-9666.