April 9, 2025 Meeting

Insect Apocalyse?

What is really happening, why it matters and how you can be part of the solution

with Dave Kollen

7:15-9:00 p.m., presentation 7:30-8:30 p.m.

Main Hall, Hilyard Community Center, 2580 Hilyard St, Eugene (map)

Join us on April 9 for a presentation which looks at the bigger picture. Our speaker will address not just butterflies, but the larger group of organisms to which they belong. He will give an overview of invertebrates including their diversity and biomass and how this enables their tremendous contribution to food webs, serving as food, decomposers, and pollinators. He will then show the results of various studies that provide evidence of invertebrate declines globally.

The presentation will explore the many threats thought to be causing these declines in invertebrate populations. The two biggest are pesticide use and habitat loss, but climate change is also important. Our speaker will describe nature-based climate solutions. These are solutions that support invertebrate biodiversity and at the same time serve to mitigate some of the harmful impacts of climate change.

Dave Kollen will be speaking to us as a Xerces Society Ambassador. In this volunteer role he does educational and outreach work. Additionally, he is certified through OSU Extension as an Oregon Naturalist and Master Melittologist. His involvement in community science includes the Pacific Northwest Bumble Bee Atlas, the California Bumble Bee Atlas, and the Oregon Bee Atlas. Dave also writes pollinator-focused articles for the Oregon State Federation of Garden Clubs newsletter, Mahonia.