30 March 2021: “Bees in the burbs” (By Zoom)

The media is dominated by the yellow and black Apis mellifera, yet in Australia this is an introduced, and even invasive species. We have an incredible diversity of native bees, yet they are under-represented, and their conservation needs are little publicised. Join native bee conservation biologist Kit Prendergast as she covers native bees, their biology, ecology, and how we can make a real difference to their conservation.

Kit Prendergast is a native bee scientist and conservation biologist, dedicated to promoting evidence-based actions to preserve indigenous native bees. She earned a Forrest Scholarship for her Ph.D. research documenting native bee biodiversity in the southwest Western Australian biodiversity hotspot. She created a Facebook group ‘Bees in the burbs’ which now has almost over 9K members, and has conducted citizen science projects to engage the community to care about native bees and ensure that there are thriving bee communities. Kit was awarded the Flow Hive Pollinator Support Program, Graduate Women WA Mary Walters Bursary, Australian Wildlife Society University Student Grants Scheme and the Ecological Society of Australia’s Outstanding Outreach Prize, and was a FameLab Australia finalist. She’s been invited to speak at community events and has published numerous academic articles. Kit has also written the popular book ‘Creating a Haven for Native Bees.’

The zoom link for this presentation will only be available to financial members.  It will be sent out prior to the presentation.