May Member Spotlight


University of Sussex professor of biology, Dave Goulson, is fighting to save nature's buzzing army.

Dave Goulson/Bumblebee Conservation Trust

 

Dave Goulson

Bumblebee Conservation Trust

 

Even the smallest lifeforms need space to live and continue to support the rest of life. Pollinators included. This is why University of Sussex professor of biology, Dave Goulson, has spent his entire career studying pollinating insects, especially bumblebees. Goulson was named the eighth most influential person in conservation, alongside Sir David Attenborough, by the BBC Wildlife Magazine in 2015 for his “clarity, verve and unyielding determination” to speak out against the dangers that neonicotinoid pesticides pose to wildlife, especially bees. In 2006, Dave founded the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, a non-profit devoted entirely to saving and restoring dozens of species of wild bumblebees.

Dave joins the Nature Needs Half Network because of the importance of large, natural landscapes for pollinator conservation. “The biggest problem is that modern farming isn’t very friendly to bees,” he says. “We’ve gotten rid of most the flowers that we used to have in the countryside and bees are now being exposed to pesticides and a variety of diseases.”

Bees are just one of the many ways in which nature protects. They are the buzzing army that is an irreplaceable force in the feeding of life on Earth. We need to set aside enough nature to help feed them.

Thank you to Professor Dave Goulson for aligning his support behind the Nature Needs Half Network!