The Bruce Museum Seaside Center will kick off the Fred Elser First Sunday Science at the Seaside Center Series this summer on July 1 from 1:30 to 4:00 pm at the Innis Arden Cottage in Greenwich Point Park.
Family activities throughout the afternoon will focus on native bees. At 2:00 pm, Nick Dorian, a first-year PhD student at Tufts University in Medford, MA, will talk about “Everything except Honey: The Diversity of Wild Bees.”
There are more than 4,000 species of bees native to the United States, and over 400 species that can be found in New England.
“Within these numbers exists a staggering diversity,” Dorian said, “of form, of color, and of biology. In this talk, you will learn about the diversity of wild bees in New England. We’ll start with an introduction to native bees and pollination and go through several vignettes of common native bees. Then we’ll shift to wild bee conservation and what you can do to help bees in your own backyard, including a demo of how to build a native bee home.”
The talk will be followed by an outdoor walk to look for bees in the nearby gardens.
Nick Dorian studies native cellophane bees and how climate change affects their populations. His passion for science communication and outreach leads him to share what he knows about pollinators and gardening to anyone willing to listen.
This First Sunday Science program is inspired by and complements the current Bruce Museum exhibition Wild Bees: Photographs by Paula Sharp and Ross Eatman, which features color photographs of native bees in their natural habitats, along with an exploration of their varied lifestyles.
The next First Sunday Science program, on Sunday, August 5, will focus on Blue Crabs.
The Fred Elser First Sunday Science at the Seaside Center Series events are held at the Innis Arden Cottage in Greenwich Point Park, Old Greenwich. The program is free and open to the public. No beach pass is needed; just let the front gate staff know you are attending the First Sunday Science program. For more information, contact Bruce Museum Seaside Center Manager Cynthia Ehlinger at [email protected] or 203-413-6756 (Mon.-Fri.).