Pollinators and People

Urban growth and changing landscapes have altered pollinator populations. These changes potentially impact humans and other living things that depend on pollinators. There is a growing body of knowledge that assesses the pollinator declines and suggests possible solutions. Dr. Harlan Patch, an entomologist at Penn State University, will outline the nature of pollinator declines and how human beings can help pollinators by providing forage habitat, nesting sites and other resources with the ultimate goal of finding long-term sustainable solutions. Dr. Patch is especially qualified for this challenge, as he has studied how insects can smell – at the molecular level. He has focused much of his research on understanding the contribution of nutrition to pollinator and human health. Don’t worry if all of this sounds really technical – the basic theme is how insects get their food from plants and how nutrition affects pollinator and human health.