Speaker Bio Information: 

1. Jessica Helgen

 

Jessica Helgen fell in love with beekeeping on a study abroad trip to southern India. She started working for the University of MN Bee Lab in 2006, then returned to India for a Fulbright fellowship to study Asian honey bees (Apis cerana). Jessica continued working for the Bee Lab and became one the first members of the UMN Bee Squad in 2010. In addition to managing colonies for research and outreach, Jessica is the coordinator and lead instructor for the Bee Squad Mentoring Apiary program, which provides hands-on training to hobby beekeepers. She is most proud of convincing new beekeepers to try glove-less beekeeping!

Jessica will speak on 3 separate topics including:

1. Updates on Propolis Research from the U of MN Bee Lab

2. Honey Bee Communication Part 1: Pheromones

3. Honey Bee Communication Part 2: Waggle Dance

 

 

 2. Sarah Red-Laird

Sarah Red-Laird is the founder and Executive Director of the Bee Girl organization, a grassroots nonprofit centered on bee habit conservation through research, regeneration, & education. She is a graduate of the University of Montana's College of Forestry and Conservation and the Davidson Honors College with a degree in Resource Conservation, focused on community collaboration and environmental policy. Sarah also serves as the “Kids and Bees” program director for the American Beekeeping Federation. To see her commitment to good policy and community collaborations realized, she also has served as president of the Northwest Farmers Union and Western Apicultural Society, and as a board member of the National Farmers Union. When she is not tirelessly working with bees, beekeepers, kids, farmers and ranchers, and policy makers, Sarah loves to read books while drinking coffee, ride her vintage 10-speed, run in the hills, and see new places, things, and people. To see her latest projects updates visit Instagram and Facebook @sarahbeegirl or www.beegirl.org.

Sarah will speak on 3 separate topics including:

1. 10 Ways to BEE a Hero

2. How to Teach Kids About Bees

3. Regenerative Bee Pasture

 

3. Dr. Michelle Flenniken 

Dr. Michelle Flenniken is an Associate Professor in the Plant Sciences Department at Montana State University. She is a virologist investigating honey bee host–pathogen interactions, Co-Director of the Pollinator Health Center at MSU, and serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of Project Apis m..

Michelle received a B.S. in Biology from the University of Iowa, then was a Peace Corps volunteer in Ghana, before obtaining her Ph.D. in Microbiology from Montana State University.

She did postdoctoral research at the University of California, San Francisco prior to becoming a faculty member at MSU. URLs:  http://plantsciences.montana.edu/facultyorstaff/faculty/Flenniken/ , http://www.montana.edu/pollinators/

 

Dr Flenniken will speak on 3 separate topics including:

1. Bee Viruses

2. Impact of Viruses

3. Bee Antiviral