Purdue Extension Protecting Pollinators team honored with educational project award

A Purdue Extension initiative designed to help educate the public, farmers and agrochemical professionals about vital pollinator species has received the 2017 Entomology Educational Project Award from the Certified Entomologists of Mid-America.

The Protecting Pollinators team was honored for its series of Extension publications that provide practical tips for protecting the habitats of honey bees, mason bees, bumble bees, flies, moths, butterflies and hummingbirds as well as other threatened pollinator species.

“A third of food crops depend on honey bee pollination and up to 85 percent of all crops show significant yield increases from bees, yet there are serious declines in pollinators worldwide and significant challenges to bee health in the honey industry,” said Stephen Cameron, department head and entomology professor at Purdue.

“Public interest and awareness of these challenges is higher than ever. The Protecting Pollinators Extension series details the importance of pollinators and how individuals can help protect bees – in their home gardens, in vegetable and cropping systems, as commercial pesticide users and through protecting bee habitat. Protecting Pollinators teaches us how to make life easier for some of humanity’s best wildlife friends - the bees.”

The Protecting Pollinators series began last year and currently includes seven publications, each targeted to a specific audience:

* Protecting Pollinators in Home Lawns and Landscapes

* Protecting Pollinators in Fruit and Vegetable Production

* Tips for Commercial Agricultural Pesticide Applicators

* Recommended Indiana-native Plants for Protecting Pollinators

* Why Should We Care About Pollinators?

* Protecting Pollinators in Agronomic Crop Production

* Best Management Practices for Indiana Pollinator Habitat

Two more publications are in development and should be available soon.

Each of the publications is available for free download from Purdue Extension’s The Education Store at http://www.edustore.purdue.edu. Type “Protecting Pollinators” into the search box at the top of the page.

The Protecting Pollinators team consists of entomology professors Cliff Sadof, Rick Foster, Christian Krupke and Doug Richmond, pest management specialist John Obermeyer, beekeeping expert Krispn Given, and Fred Whitford, director of the Purdue Pesticide Programs.

Contributing authors in the Protecting Pollinators series also include Gina Anderson, Purdue Extension-Floyd County educator; Melinda Appold, assistant professor of landscape architecture; Bruce Bordelon, professor of horticulture; Roy Ballard, Purdue Extension-Hancock County educator; Valerie Clingerman, Purdue Extension-Knox County director; David Gorden, Mark M. Holeman Inc.; Peter Hirst, professor of horticulture; Greg Hunt, entomology professor; Ellen Jacquart, the Nature Conservancy of Indiana; Robert Jean, Environmental Solutions & Innovations Inc.; Michael O’Donnell, Purdue Extension organic and diversified agriculture educator; Heather Reynolds, Indiana University Department of Biology and Stanger’s Hill Organics; and Philip Sutton, Purdue Extension-St. Joseph County educator.

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