November 2024 | View as Webpage

Affiliate Spotlight: Michigan State University BUG Project’s Urban Farms Survey

We’re doing a different kind of spotlight this month. Michigan State University does a remarkable amount of pollinator conservation research, but in this post we’re highlighting one particular project of the Vegetable Entomology Lab and encouraging you to help out.

If you are involved with urban farming in any state, please take (and share!) their Pollination Management Survey by February 1, 2025. Michigan residents who are at least 18 years old can be entered into a raffle to win a $100 gift card. Read more and take the survey

Blog: Our New IPM Plan Toolkit

Pictured above: Seaside, CA dropped pesticide use altogether on city grounds. Each Saturday, volunteers meet to enhance and create new pollinator habitats at parks.

Last month, we held a webinar debuting our new online IPM Toolkit, and this month we're checking in with Aaron Anderson, one of the creators of the kit, to learn about why we created this kit, and giving an overview of how it can help our affiliates meet their Bee City and Bee Campus commitments. Read more about the IPM toolkit (link will be added tomorrow)

Examples of Affiliate Signs and Public Displays

One of the commitments of Bee City USA and Bee Campus USA is signage. We ask the Bee City affiliates have at least one street sign (pictured above) and that Bee Campuses have permanent or temporary pollinator conservation signage, as appropriate.

Our affiliates carry out this commitment in so many creative, beautiful, and effective ways! We've compiled some examples from your recent annual renewal reports to highlight examples of street signs, interpretive signs, landscape signs -- even public art!

View affiliate signs and public displays

5 Beneficial Insects for Farms and Gardens

A bee? 🐝 No, but this hover fly should absolutely bee welcome in your garden!

In gardening and agriculture, the spotlight often shines on pollinators and the wonderful yields of their labor: blooms, fruits, and vegetables. Yet, hidden among the leaves and soil, there’s a much bigger community at work keeping our plants healthy.

We call them beneficial insects! These helpful bugs control pests (by eating them!) and come in many different shapes, sizes, and even ways of hunting.

Meet five of our favorite beneficial insects, and learn how they can help keep your backyard ecosystem in good shape. Read about 5 beneficial insects

Now Accepting Applications: 2025 DeWind Awards

The Xerces Society offers annual awards to support students pursuing educational research in Lepidoptera conservation. We're investing in the future of our planet and our field by sponsoring the next generation of butterfly and moth conservationists through these grants.

Deadline: Tuesday, January 7, 2025

Award amount: $10,000 each, with two awards available.

Eligible applicants: Applicants may be graduate or undergraduate students; however, all but one awardee, to date, have been pursuing graduate research.

Requirements: All proposals must be written by the student researcher. Proposed research should have a clear connection to Lepidoptera conservation and must be completed within one year from receiving funds. Applications from countries outside the United States will be considered but must be written in English and international applicant work cannot involve work in the United States.

View full award information and instructions

Welcome, New Bee City and Bee Campus Affiliates!

Thank you for joining us!

Milwaukie, OR
Samford University, AL
SUNY Oswego, NY
University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, PR

[External Resource] Field Inclusive Research Grants

Field Inclusive Research Grants help to support applicants who participate in natural science field work. Grants can be used towards equipment purchases, field housing, transportation, or technician salary.

Deadline: February 1, 2025

Grant Amount: Five $500 awards

About Field Inclusive

Field Inclusive strives to provide tangible and actionable improvements in the natural sciences by addressing social field safety issues related to equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility. We seek to support all field biologists, as well as those working and recreating in the outdoors, through identifying and addressing social field safety issues, developing social field safety resources, and supporting marginalized and historically excluded researchers through financial aid and experiential learning opportunities.

View Proposal Guidelines, Criteria, and Apply

Upcoming Events

November 18 @ 8 AM - 4 PM MT @ Denver Botanic Garden [External event, in-person] 2024 Colorado Pollinator Summit: New Terrain for Pollinator Conservation

December 5 @ 10 AM PT / 11 AM MT / 12 PM CT / 1 PM ET

Celebrating Invertebrates: A Year of Conservation with the Xerces Society

January 9 @ 10 AM PT / 11 AM MT / 12 PM CT / 1 PM ET

Western Butterflies and Lost Species in the Anthropocene

Have a event, funding opportunity, or volunteer opportunity you would like us to promote? Email beecityusa@xerces.org. If you have a Bee City/Campus login: you can add events here.