Iowa State will hold the 2021 Rossmann Manatt Seminar on Thursday, titled “The Bee Squad: Understanding and Improving Pollinator Health in Iowa.” The seminar will take place from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in room 360 in Heady Hall.

Sponsored by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Student Government’s Committee on Lectures, the seminar will explore some of the research being done on pollinator conservation and bee health. The seminar will also feature short videos about projects students have been working on that were funded through the program.

The seminar will be presented by the 2021 Rossmann Manatt Award Recipient Amy Toth, a professor in the departments of ecology, evolution, and organismal biology and entomology. Toth studies the mechanisms of insect sociality through evolution and uses honey bees and paper wasps as modeling systems.

The Rossmann Manatt award serves to recognize outstanding faculty members from the College of Agriculture or the College of Human Sciences. The award is given to tenured faculty members who exhibit creativity and productivity in their roles as faculty members.

This seminar serves to highlight the research being conducted on bee health and pollinator conservation. Bees serve a large role in the pollination of plants and are an important part of our ecosystems. This seminar will help raise awareness on these issues and bring more attention to the work being done in this field.

Iowa State’s Lectures Series offers students and the public a range of educational talks and seminars. All events exist free of charge, funded by both the Student Government and the Office of the Provost.