Thursday, February 24 | 6:30 to 7:00 p.m. – pre-event social (optional) | 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. – program | Via Zoom
Please join us to learn about pollinators and opportunities to help in their conservation with Celia Vuocolo, Private Lands Biologist with Quail Forever and the National Resources Conservation Service, and Sam Droege, Wildlife Biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey.
Their presentations will provide an overarching look at pollinators from a global perspective with a focus on pollination biology and will then look at how this issue is impacting pollinators in Virginia. They will also cover how you can garden for bees for both those with their own garden spaces and those in multifamily settings and opportunities to get involved in citizen science.
Speakers:
Sam Droege
Sam Droege grew up in Hyattsville, Maryland, received an undergraduate degree at the University of Maryland and a Master’s at the State University of New York, Syracuse. Throughout his career with USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, he has coordinated the North American Breeding Bird Survey Program, developed the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program, the Bioblitz, Cricket Crawl, and FrogwatchUSA programs and works on the design and evaluation of monitoring programs. Currently, his team is running an inventory and monitoring program for native bees, developing tools and techniques manuals, along with online identification guides for North American bees at www.discoverlife.org, reviving the North American Bird Phenology Program, and producing public domain hi-resolution photographs of bees, insects, and flowers.
Celia Vuocolo
Celia has over ten years of experience in wildlife conservation and is the Private Lands Biologist for northeast Virginia. She provides technical assistance and information on federal cost-share opportunities for landowners interested in managing land for early successional species like the northern bobwhite, native pollinators, grassland birds and other wildlife. Celia’s position is supported by a partnership between Quail Forever, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and Department of Wildlife Resources. Celia is originally from Hunterdon County, New Jersey, and grew up on a rural property where they raised sheep and practiced forestry. Celia was the Wildlife Habitat & Stewardship Specialist for the Piedmont Environmental Council. She also spent time as a Smithsonian Graduate Fellow with the Virginia Working Landscapes program, where she oversaw grassland plant and pollinator citizen science surveys. Celia is passionate about pollinator conservation, particularly bumble bees, and has surveyed and studied the effects of a gut parasite, Nosema, on local bumble bee populations through her graduate studies at George Mason University. She is currently working towards an MNR in Restoration Ecology and Habitat Management at the University of Idaho.
