IPPS Annual Meeting 2019 speaker profile: Monday, October 14th - Lauren Muller
Monday, October 14th 2019 Annual Meeting Speaker Preview
Lauren Muller
Conservation Outreach Coordinator, State Botanical Garden of Georgia
PROGRAM DETAILS: Thirty perennials for pollinators and other efforts to propagate native species at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia
Pollinator services are estimated to contribute $29 billion to the U.S. economy annually, and native bees are attributed to 15% of the value of U.S. crop production. Alarming evidence from recent studies indicate serious declines in wild native pollinators and European honey bee colonies in North America. On the positive side, studies have shown that providing small pockets of habitat can provide forage and corridors that support pollinators.
Native pollinators are adapted to depend on native plants for critical parts of their life cycle, therefore it is essential that native plants be incorporated into a planted landscape. Attractive landscapes for pollinators should simultaneously address the ecology of the site and appropriate horticultural practices.
The State Botanical Garden recently released a freely available Guide to Propagation and Characteristics of Favorite Georgia Natives: Part I – Thirty Perennials for Pollinators
BIO: Lauren Muller is the Conservation Outreach Coordinator at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, a 313-acre university garden in Athens. She has a M.S in Horticulture from the University of Georgia. Her thesis, titled “Two approaches to supporting native pollinators: field establishment of butterfly weed and a garden for conservation education” allowed her to explore two very important components of conservation, in-situ plant establishment, and environmental education. She now focuses on expanding the network of pollinator habitat across Georgia. At the core of her work, Lauren invites the public to appreciate natives and the significant role that they play in a larger ecological system.