September 14, 2022 at 7:00 PM
Watch the recording of the two presentations here.
Title of Talk: If You Build It, They Will Come: A 10-Year Garden Journey
Summary
In 2012, Lesley started transitioning her 
Sacramento garden from a typical suburban lawn to a pollinator oasis. Her garden incorporates more than 150 different native plants collected from nurseries all over the state. Now, ten years into this garden project, she will discuss tips and tricks for planning your own native garden conversion, share some lessons learned from her own experience, and give recommendations for some standout plants that every native garden should have (just in time for fall plant sales!). 
She will also show off some of the many pollinators that have been observed visiting her garden as well as discuss specific plants and strategies to keep your yard buzzing.
Speaker Bio
Lesley Hamamoto has worked for the past 14 years as a professional biologist/botanist 
for the State of California but got her start as a young gardener going to plant nurseries and helping out in the yard with her grandparents. Her education and early professional career at UC Davis also set her firmly on the path of studying and growing plants, with field trips to local botanical hotspots such as Stebbins Cold Canyon and Jepson Prairie, and several years working at the UCD Botanical Conservatory being particularly formative experiences.
Photos courtesy of Lesley Hamamoto
Title of Talk: Community Science with our Native Pollinators: The CA Bumble Bee Atlas
Summary
Bumble bees are abundant, charismatic, and highly important pollinators of our 
native and agricultural landscapes. The Atlas is a collaborative community science effort to document California’s native bumble bee species. Citizen scientist volunteers collect survey data that provide crucial information on several species of concern to aid future management and conservation.
In this section, Dylan Winkler will tell us how we can be a part of this community science opportunity. We will start out with a quick overview of the importance of native bees and an introduction to bumble bees. Then we will take a deeper dive into the Atlas project and how to get involved. He will also share some of the highlights that Atlas participants have seen this year.
For more information about the California Bumble Bee Atlas, please visit the website: https://www.cabumblebeeatlas.org/
Speaker Bio
Dylan Winkler is a scientific aid the with CA Department of Fish and Wildlife and works on the California Bumble 
Bee Atlas (The Atlas). Born in Dallas, Texas, he graduated in 2019 from the University of Texas, Austin with a BS in Biology concentrating in Ecology. His interest is in plant-animal interactions with a strong intersection of conservation, community science and outreach. As a way to get outside, he loves to spend time birding, botanizing, gardening and relaxing indoors through cooking.
Photo credits:
- Dylan with bumble bee – Photo by Patricia Simpson. Some rights reserved (CC BY)
- Dylan and Dr. Leif Richardson at Carrizo Plains – Photo by Hillary Sardiñas. Some rights reserved (CC BY)
- California Bumble Bee flying (Bombus fervidus californicus) – Header photo by Tora Rocha. Some rights reserved (CC BY)
