The Native Bees of Texas Course is an integral part of the lab’s outreach program. Laurel Treviño and Shalene Jha developed the course in 2018 with input from Shelly Engelman and John Neff. Laurel continued to improve the public science course, which she has taught four times at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (2018, 2019, 2021) and the Austin Nature and Science Center (2023). Tania Zastrow, Wildflower Center program manager hosted the course in 2018 and 2019 as part of the Fall Texas Pollinator Bioblitz. Jessica Gilzow (ANSC) hosted the course for enthusiastic Austin Bee City committee members and Austin Parks and Recreation staff. Several Jha Lab members helped Laurel lead labs and post-course bee observation activities in native plant gardens. Close to 100 course participants and assistants include Texas Master Naturalists, Master Gardeners, ranchers, farmers, nature center educators, Austin Bee City members, UT students and staff, and the public at large. We’ve published a case study of our successful outreach course and Laurel has presented posters and talks at various conferences (Entomological Society 2021, UT CNS Teaching Days 2022, Ecological Society of America 2022). A Native Pollinator Survey Workshop supplements this course to further hone participant’s identification and surveying skills.
See our Results here:
Treviño Murphy, L.; Engelman, S.; Neff, J.L.; Jha, S. The Native Bees of Texas: Evaluating the Benefits of a Public Engagement Course. Insects 2021, 12, 702. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects12080702