Pollination is the movement of pollen from the male parts of the flower to the female parts of the flower. It facilitates seed formation and fruit formation. Pollination happens in different ways for different types of plants: wind, gravity, and even with the help of animals.

Dr. Lora Morandin is the Western Canada Program Manager at the Pollinator Partnership. She has been doing research on bees and pollination since 1997, based on interest in native pollinator conservation and sustainable agriculture. She has consulted for government and industry on diverse ecological topics and is passionate about finding ways for production and conservation to co-exist in a healthy and sustainable environment.

In this interview with host Scott Luton, Dr. Lora Morandin talks about the threats facing some pollinators today and the steps that the Pollinator Partnership is taking to protect them and their habitats.

Intro/Outro (00:03):

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Scott Luton (00:32):

Hey, good morning, everybody. Scott Luton here with you on supply chain now, welcome to today’s show. So did you know that June 20th through 26th is pollinator week here in 2022. And if you’re in food manufacturing, the floral industry or other related sectors across global spot chain, you must know the incredibly valuable role that our pollinators play. And if you don’t, while you’re in the right spot with us here today is today. We’re gonna be speaking with a leader from a nonprofit that’s only a mission to promote the health of pollinators everywhere. So with no further do wanna welcome in Dr. Laura Morandin, the research and conservation director with pollinator partnership and pollinator partnership, Canada, Laura, how we doing today?

Dr. Lora Morandin (01:13):

I’m doing great. Thanks, Scott.

Scott Luton (01:15):

It is so nice to have you, um, uh, I find your, your, uh, your work and your organization fascinating. And, uh, you know, we might have something a little bit in common, you know, supply chains. We were talking pre-show has been a bit underappreciated, maybe just like pollinators, which we’re gonna learn more about today. Huh?

Dr. Lora Morandin (01:32):

Well, I think, um, supply chains could use some more marketing for maybe the, the title of them to <laugh> make them a little more appealing to people, but yes, they’re very important and, uh, pollinators are definitely an integral part of supply chains.

Scott Luton (01:46):

Completely agree. Completely agree. So before we get into, uh, pollinator partnership and, and they even defining some of these terms, they’ll love us sit with our audience. Let’s get to know you a little bit better, Laura. So let’s start with one of my favorite questions. Hey, where did you grow up and, and give us some anecdotes about your upbringing.

Dr. Lora Morandin (02:03):

Okay. So I grew up in Southern Ontario about an hour outside of Toronto, Ontario that, um, most of your audience would probably know about. Um, but I was in the country. I was on 10 acres. Wow. And so the 10 acres wasn’t farmland so much, it was mostly forested. And my dad built the house on the land and I spent, you know, most of my time running around in the woods with my siblings and my dogs and really having a lot of unstructured time. And, you know, I think that was probably more the case back when I grew up. Right. Um, but I think that that really helped shape my love of nature, just that natural exploration of it and spending a lot of time in nature.

Scott Luton (02:53):

So that, that ability to kind of, um, the word that comes to mind for me is meander. You, you kind of it’s unstructured, uh, if it’s one day climbing trees or planting flowers or, or, um, you know, exploring different parts of the 10 acres you grew up on, you had lots and lots of free time to, to cultivate that passion for all things nature. Huh?

Dr. Lora Morandin (03:14):

Yeah. And it was just really an integral part of my life. So it wasn’t external to my life, which I think can be a problem for some people that don’t have that advantage of, of growing up, surrounded by nature. Mm-hmm <affirmative> which a lot of us don’t anymore.

Scott Luton (03:29):

Yeah. Uh, excellent point there. Well, Hey, let me ask you a fun question. We love talking food here at supply chain. Now, uh, we were just talking, uh, the other day with a supply chain officer from Memphis, Tennessee. And of course we talked about, uh, barbecue, but we also talked about strawberry rhubarb pie, which I’ve never had in my life. Evidently as big in Memphis for you, where you grew up, what was one food dish that might be inseparable from your, your childhood?

Dr. Lora Morandin (03:57):

Oh, I would have to say my grandmother’s lasagna. My I, my parents were born in Italy, their first, uh, generation Canadians. Uh, and my, my mom worked and my dad worked as well, but my grandmother’s lasagna from the old country, I would say it is something that is really ingrained in me and I try to duplicate, but it’s never quite the same.

Scott Luton (04:19):

Oh man, you’re making me hungry. I bet that is just delicious melts in your mouth. I’ll have to get the recipe from you. Uh, maybe after the show. Um, let’s, let’s shift gears a bit. Um, so I’ve gleaned from, uh, learning more batches. We, we’re doing our homework here, uh, for the episode and you have an urban farm where you spend some of your free time, at least Laura. So, you know, I wanna compare notes here cause we’ve been trying to farm, uh, last few years, at least what’s been your most successful crop, this farm.

Dr. Lora Morandin (04:49):

Well I’ve, I’ve had a lot of successful crops and I’m, I think it’s more luck than anything, but you know, as you probably know, urban farming has a lot of different definitions and there’s a lot of different things that could be called urban farming. I’m on an urban property, a typical size yard. And even though it’s a typical size yard in an urban area, just outside of downtown Victoria, we get an awful lot out of our backyard. So we have fruit trees, we’ve got a couple plum trees, we’ve got apples, we’ve got grapes, figs, hash caps, we’re starting to grow. So we have a lot of fruit. And as you might know, if you grow fruit trees, it kind of goes up and down. What you get right from fruit trees some years is just crazy and you gotta get out, uh, your canning supplies and do a lot of canning and share with neighbors.

Dr. Lora Morandin (05:44):

Uh, so that was last year for us. I’m not sure what this year is gonna look like, but we had an awful lot of fruit last year. Uh, we also have quite a large vegetable garden and instead of planting a couple things a lot, I like to have a lot of everything. So we could get most of our vegetables actually out of our backyard, all summer peas and beans like we were talking about. Yeah, just a little bit earlier, a lot of different types of beans. Um, squashes and tomatoes, tomatoes are a little difficult up here in Canada. We don’t always get the heat we need. Right. But we’ve got lots of green tomatoes anyways. In some years we get good red tomatoes. Um, but a lot of lettuces. And so my family kind of groans and moans because I’m like, Hey, it’s another lettuce dinner guys. <laugh> um, but yeah, lots of vegetables, lots of fruit. We also have chickens. Okay. So we can wait too many eggs over the summer. They still lay over the winter, but it’s a more reasonable amount. Um, so in the summertime we give away a lot of our eggs because we have so many,

Scott Luton (06:51):

Wow. You really have a urban, a full fledge, urban farm.

Dr. Lora Morandin (06:56):

You know, it’s a normal, it’s a normal size backyard. Everybody can do this. Um, well I will say though, we did have ducks. Don’t do ducks in urban areas. They are gross and messy and they’re so fun and interesting, but they are very messy and stinky. So we don’t have our ducks for eggs anymore, but we do have quail now as well. Okay. Man. And quail produce a lot of eggs. So one of my kinda most fun things to do is to do a backyard dinner. So let’s get all our dinner from the backyard and that’s a fun challenge.

Scott Luton (07:29):

I love that. Okay. So we’re gonna have to compare notes after the show and I’m gonna have to get some pictures as well of your gardens. Um, you know, um, I don’t know about you, uh, for, for me, I didn’t really pick up, uh, even the little bit of gardening we do. Um, you know, cause we’re, we’re, we’re rookies, we’re newbies. Um, but, but it was really the middle, the middle of the pandemic here, middle lockdown. And for me, it really gosh, getting in the backyard and getting our, our hands dirty and, and planting stuff and, and watering and, you know, stringing the green beans we were talking about. So therapeutic and you could just feel the stress just kind of, uh, dress, just kinda, uh, just melted away from you is that, is that, uh, do same experience when you’re in

Dr. Lora Morandin (08:14):

That is so much a part of it, Scott, definitely. And as we find ourselves more and more behind computers and not doing coffee meetings and getting out with friends as much, I think our gardens and our natural spaces have taken on a new importance.

Scott Luton (08:32):

Mm. Uh, I wholeheartedly agree with you. Uh, and I should say, Hey, the green beans has been our most successful crop here, and this year we’re trying a new, um, um, I was gonna say strain a varietal. I’m not sure different type of beans. It’s called the big Kahoona and early indications are, it is really producing. So, uh, we’re gonna have to really stay on it from a harvesting standpoint. Um, so we’ll compare garden notes more soon, but you know, what helps us get us there is, is the central part of your mission, that pollinator partnership. So, uh, Laura, where I wanna go next, um, let’s define when, when we use the word pollinator, uh, and of course, when we talk about the role that Pollin have in our, in all of our lives, um, define that a bit, if you would.

Dr. Lora Morandin (09:18):

Yeah, well actually I think it’s helpful to go back even a step from that and define what is pollination mm. To make sure everybody’s on the same page with that. And what that is is it’s the movement of pollen from the male parts of the flower, to the female parts of the flower. And what that does is allows seed formation and fruit formation. So the pollination part can happen in a few different ways for different types of plants. It can happen by wind for some plants. It can happen by gravity and it can, uh, even happen by water for, for some plants, but most plants, most of our flowering plants, the vast majority of them need animals to move that pollen from the male parts to the female parts, to fertilize the eggs. And when an animal moves pollen, that animal is called a pollinator. So it’s actually quite simple if you know what pollination is.

Scott Luton (10:18):

And so it’s really broad. There’s all, I would assume there’s all sorts of different animals that can serve as pollinators.

Dr. Lora Morandin (10:25):

There are tons of different animals that can, there’s lots of different birds, there’s bats, other mammals, uh, there’s lizards, even that can be pollinators. Lots of different types of insects can be pollinators as well. Of course, ants and flower flies and wasps and beetles, the most important pollinators in most of our natural ecosystems. And in most of our agriculture are the bees

Scott Luton (10:52):

Mm-hmm, <affirmative> so a about that. Um, um, you know, I’ve understood kind of from afar, um, is some of the troubles we’ve had with, with keeping the bee pop populations healthy. I’m not sure if that’s been some of the, some of the main thrust of some of your expertise and, and advocacy. Anything you can share, any light you can shed on that with us.

Dr. Lora Morandin (11:15):

Yeah. So there there’s two really, there’s a really important distinction here that we have honeybees that are not native to north America, and they were brought over in 1622 from Europe, mostly for honey production. Now they’re used quite a bit for crop pollination, our large acreages of crops that need to be pollinated in a pretty short amount of time. They’re flowering for a couple weeks often. So we bring honeybees in for that. So those are a managed agricultural organism, and it’s pretty much one species. In addition to that, what’s less known by the public is that we have about 4,000 species of native bees in north America. And they’re often not recognized by people even as be bees. So some of them look somewhat like honeybees, some of them look totally different than honeybees, and there really are two separate issues. We do have a health problem, quite a serious health problem with honey bees that agricultural organism, but we also have health problems and, uh, documented declines and suspected declines of our native pollinators, which are quite integral to our crop production, but also to our natural ecosystems. Of course.

Scott Luton (12:32):

So, um, and with your last statement, it kind of goes, um, far beyond the honey bee. What’s, what’s more commonly known. A lot of pollinators are at risk. Is that a fair statement?

Dr. Lora Morandin (12:44):

Yeah. A lot of pollinators are, are at risk and there’s some main factors that are impacting all pollinators. So it’s not just the honey bees. That’s the first thing that people usually know about. It’s not just the native bees, it’s also all those other pollinators that I mentioned earlier. They’re, they’re all facing these health challenges. Hmm.

Scott Luton (13:03):

Well, so, um, I don’t know if we wanna get into some of the programs that, uh, your organization, which is in nonprofit that’s addressing it, would, would, would you like anything you’d like to specify in terms of some of the, the health risks that are impacting, uh, pollinators before we go there?

Dr. Lora Morandin (13:21):

Yeah, sure. So one of the biggest ones is loss of habitat. Uh, they, anybody can see this when you fly over north America or you, you take a walk anywhere. We’re converting our, a lot of our land for different reasons into areas that are not really conducive to supporting pollinators and other wildlife. So we have really large acreage of crop land that doesn’t have a lot of wild land integrated within it. We have a lot of urban areas and we have a lot of industrial areas. Most of these areas are not great for pollinators in that they’re not providing the habitat they need in that habitat is things like the floral resources, the nectar and the pollen and the plants as well. Some of them eat plants in different stages of their life. So we’re really losing a lot of that. That’s really the biggest problem.

Dr. Lora Morandin (14:15):

Another problem is PS and diseases. We have increasing PS and diseases, especially in our managed pollinators, but also in our wild pollinators. The third reason, the third problem for pollinators is that they’re exposed to pesticides in a lot of environments. Some pesticides are not fought to impact them, but there are definitely pesticides that are known to impact pollinators, have negatively affect them. And then another issue that we have is invasive species. So things like invasive plants taking over areas with native wild flowers is a big problem and also invasive species that can be pests on these pollinators. Um, and then the final one that’s really causing an impact more recently, or we’re understanding it more recently is this change in climate and the changing climate’s also associated with extreme climate events and unpredictability. And that’s been hard on pollinators too. Mm

Scott Luton (15:19):

No shortage of challenges, uh, by any means. Well, let’s, let’s shift gears to the good news here and there. Some of the great work that your organization, your team that you’re doing. So tell us more about the pollinator partnership and some of the programs, uh, that you offer to help protect pollinators.

Dr. Lora Morandin (15:37):

Yeah. Yeah. That’s great. And I always like getting past that sort of negative part of it and getting into this more good news story, because pollinators really are a good news story in conservation. So with pollinator partnership, we are the largest organization in the world dedicated exclusively to the protection of pollinators and their habitat. We’re actually celebrating 20, our 25th anniversary this year. And over the last 25 years, we’ve been protecting pollinators through research and outreach and education habitat creation, consulting with industry policy advising, and a big one is convening stakeholders for task force based action. And, uh, we have a number of programs related, uh, to this work that, that we do. I can go into those a little bit if you’d

Scott Luton (16:32):

Like, okay, please.

Dr. Lora Morandin (16:34):

Yeah. So, um, one of our, one of our original programs that the whole organization started with is our eco regional planting guides. And these guides are free for download on our website and they have a lot of great information about pollinators and how to support them. And one of the really great things in these guides is they have a list of plants, native plants that support pollinators for each eco region in the us and for many in Canada as well. Okay. So great resource for people if they wanna get started on creating habitat for pollinators. Um, another program that we have is the north American pollinator protection campaign or NAPE. And we meet every year in Washington, DC when we can have in-person meetings or virtually when we can’t. And what we do there is we bring together stakeholders and we bring together government and academia and other nonprofits, and we get together to discuss some of the biggest problems and what can we do this year to solve them? So we’re in tasks, task forces, and we work throughout the year on the tasks that we assign ourselves during the conference each year. And that’s been a really, really productive way to get things done for pollinators. Mm.

Scott Luton (17:57):

Um, sounds like you’re really focused on outcomes with a lot of the lot of the work that yeah, yeah,

Dr. Lora Morandin (18:02):

Yeah. It’s a, you know, it’s a really immediate problem, but it’s a, it’s a problem that has immediate solutions as well. So we’re really working, um, in that area. Uh, some of the other programs that we have are be friendly farming, which helps farmers create lands that will better support pollinators. And it also recognizes them for the work that they’re doing to support pollinators. Hmm. We run a group of programs under the banner of Monarch wings across north America. Okay.

Dr. Lora Morandin (18:35):

Which, yeah. And it’s helped enhance thousands of acres of land for monarchs and other pollinators. So we have volunteers going out and collecting seeds. We have a nursery that cleans those seeds and propagates some of them into little seedlings. And then we give those back out to sites and that has really, uh, made a big impact on the ground literally to create these thousands of acres that support monarchs mm-hmm <affirmative> because we focus on milk weed, which the Monarch needs for its larval stage, but also other pollinators as well, because we’re putting out all these nectar and, uh, pollen plants that really help, uh, great diversity of pollinators. Mm

Scott Luton (19:16):

We are, we are growing milkweed. It is in our small garden to hopefully attract some of the various butterflies. I’d love to see some monarchs. I’m not sure, I’m not sure about the, the migration patterns, but I heard milkweed was great for attracting butterflies and pollinators, right?

Dr. Lora Morandin (19:31):

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And there’s so many, so monarchs, you know, they kind of take the spotlight a little bit and fair enough. They’re pretty charismatic and pretty awesome, but there’s a lot of other butterflies too, that rely on other native plants for their larval stage. And we have resources on our website about that. So looking into that a little bit is, um, pretty fun too, because then you can encourage other butterflies in your yard.

Scott Luton (19:57):

Love that, uh, on the front end, as you were talking about some of the programs you, you, you mentioned, um, you, you kind of advise industry, I think is a phrase you used, um, without naming names, you know, we’re, we’re big supply chain nerds here. And of course, uh, food manufacturing, the Florida industry, some of the other sectors we mentioned, um, is, is our big, big parts of our listing audience. Um, any, can you share any breakthrough moments or, or, or maybe some of the things they’ve been surprised at as you have, you know, helped make them more aware maybe of, of, of how to protect our polls?

Dr. Lora Morandin (20:33):

I think getting past that, we just want to support honey bees. Mm. And talking about all these other bees and other insects that used to be the ones that pollinated our crops before we brought in honey bees, I think that really surprises some people and really opens their eyes to this different world. And we don’t, we don’t necessarily need to be so reliant on honey bees, although they are quite important, but we have this ability to increase these other species that used to pollinate all our crops.

Scott Luton (21:07):

So we can lessen the load on the honey bee, maybe. Yeah.

Dr. Lora Morandin (21:10):

Share it.

Scott Luton (21:11):

Um, alright. So moving from pollinator partnership and all the sounds like a wealth of programs, uh, I really appreciate y’all’s work. Let’s talk about your role at the organization. And, uh, you’ve had some, uh, a lot of, um, extraordinary recognition. I think you’ve published several books have been very well received. Tell us about what your role and, and what you enjoy about what you do, perhaps.

Dr. Lora Morandin (21:35):

Yeah. So, uh, as you, uh, introduce me, I am the research and conservation director for pollinator partnership in pollinator partnership Canada. So I work on both sides of the border and my job is extremely diverse. And I think that’s what I like. One of the reasons I, I like it so much. So I do a lot of different things in a day. Uh, I could be doing some research and outreach and education. I might get a call with industry that wants to put in some pollinator habitat, uh, working on some government contracts, supervising different people, getting out to the field to do collections. So I might be talking to a kindergarten class at, at some point during the day. So it’s, it’s quite varied and fun. And I really, um, am able to take my work in whichever directions seem to be the most productive at the time, which I really, I really value with my job.

Dr. Lora Morandin (22:33):

I, I do a lot of, uh, local work because I, I like doing work where I live and I like connecting with the different groups and the different, uh, people that live here in Victoria. So one thing that, um, I’m doing is working with a number of the airports here to put in pollinator habitat, um, working with some different businesses to put in pollinator habitat. And I’m also working with a nursery called a native plant nursery called satin flower nursery. And we’re running a seven month program right now to help people convert lawn to biodiverse wildlife Meadows. And so we’re fostering them through that process. And it’s just been, we’re about three months into that program right now. It’s called the Mead makers and it’s been a lot of fun.

Scott Luton (23:22):

Gosh, Laura, it sounds like a lot of fun, uh, and what you do no wonder. And the other thing that stuck out to me was, as you were kind of talking about how, you know, as part of your role there one day is doing this and other days doing this and, and it kind of reminded me of your upbringing, right. Mm-hmm <affirmative> where you kind of went with, with where your interest was happened to be, or, or where, uh, where you wanted to be maybe, uh, on any particular day. So lots of commonalities here, huh?

Dr. Lora Morandin (23:48):

Oh, that’s a good connection that I hadn’t made yet. Thank you.

Scott Luton (23:51):

<laugh> well, so, um, one other thing I wanna put out there and let’s talk about national pollinated week in just a second, but it sounds like to me, so if any of those, uh, are listeners, whether they’re supply chain professionals and food industry, or, or, or maybe their company’s looking to, um, add in like a Mead maker program as part of their overall, um, you know, uh, sustainability, uh, strategy sounds like you could be a great re you and pollinator, um, uh, organization could be a great resource for them, right?

Dr. Lora Morandin (24:23):

Yeah. We encourage, uh, people to reach out to us if they want to do any consulting with us. We have experience across north America doing different things, educating staff, putting in corporate gardens, putting in larger areas on solar fields for pollinators. So, you know, reach out to us. It’s, um, P two consulting@pollinator.org, and we’d be happy to talk to you about what you’d like.

Scott Luton (24:49):

Wonderful. I, I love it. It’s um, um, uh, for, in my words, it’s like landscaping with purpose, right? I mean, because you’re really, I mean, the impact you’re having on, on all these pollinators that we all rely on, uh, while you’re beautifying, uh, these areas. I mean, gosh, what rewarding work? Um, alright, so it’s national pollinator week, uh, today is, uh, June 21st. It’s the second day of the week that we celebrate here, I guess, in the states each week. Is it the same week in Canada?

Dr. Lora Morandin (25:22):

It is the same week in Canada. Okay. And in other areas of the world

Scott Luton (25:25):

Too. Okay. Yep. So what should our, what should our listeners, what should folks know about this week, each year and what would you suggest some of the actions that they should take?

Dr. Lora Morandin (25:37):

Yeah, so pollinator week is really about celebrating pollinators and also spreading the message about pollinators and how important they are to our lives and to the planet. And also about giving people hope about how we can make direct and, and really significant differences for them. So there’s a lot of great ways that people can help pollinators. I’ll first touch on that. And then maybe I’ll go a little bit more into, uh, pollinator week and some things you can do to celebrate if that’s okay.

Scott Luton (26:09):

That sounds wonderful.

Dr. Lora Morandin (26:10):

Okay. So, um, in terms of helping pollinators, like I talked about the best way, the best thing to do is create habitat for them. If you can, uh, find a native plant supplier, get our ecoregional guides, find the plants that are good in your region to support pollinators. Those native plants are really gonna support those pollinators that have evolved here, or have been here for hundreds and hundreds of thousands of years sometimes. So that native plant component is really important for your habitat creation. Um, but there’s a lot of other things that people can do too, to support pollinators. They could join a volunteer group. That’s removing invasive plants from local parks. They can learn more about native plants and pollinators, and they could go and talk about it at their garden center. If their garden, center’s not stalking native plants, you can, uh, put a little pressure on them by, by talking to them about that.

Dr. Lora Morandin (27:08):

Um, definitely supporting groups that are helping pollinators and are helping conserve habitat is an amazing thing that you can do. And you can talk to your local municipality, your local city, or your, your conservation district about using native plants in their landscaping because the government does do a lot of landscaping. And in the past it hasn’t really been the most bio diverse landscaping. So I think changing that a bit can be quite helpful if you’re part of a company that has corporate lands, you could talk to them about putting in a pollinator garden in the front, uh, about educating the staff and doing some pollinator steward certification work, which we do so lots of different ways to help pollinators, uh, in terms of pollinator week and how to celebrate. This is really the fun time. This is the fun time of the year for us.

Dr. Lora Morandin (28:02):

We wanna have pollinator dinners. We bring in every, you know, invite some friends over and really focus on incorporating foods that need pollinators. So going back to my grandmother’s lasagna, right? Those tomatoes need pollinators. The, um, the vegetables in there. Those need pollinators even the cheese, because our, uh, AFA that we provide for cattle, ah, that takes pollinators. So, so having a pollinator themed meal is a great way to celebrate looking into some of the online webinars and, uh, parties that we’re having. So in, um, cooperation with EPRI, we are doing a pollinator party. Okay. And that’s a lot of fun. So, so check, check that out. Um, creating gardens is a fun thing to do during pollinator week, get a community together, create a pollinator garden and, you know, cocktail parties too. There’s a lot of great cocktails.

Scott Luton (29:10):

<laugh> I love it

Dr. Lora Morandin (29:11):

Related to pollinators, so we can have a lot of fun during this week.

Scott Luton (29:15):

I love it. Uh, your passion for what you do, is it just, it just emanates from you. Um, Laura, so sounds like one of the great opportunities out there for our listeners, uh, and really industry and even society is just the awareness when it comes to pollinators and, and how that goes far beyond honeybees, how some of our daily actions, how we may be, we’re not helping you, we’re, we’re hurting. And, and maybe we gotta give more thought into, um, our plans. What’s some of the areas that, uh, surround our homes and our businesses and what like, right. Some, uh, uh, uh, connecting with resources like you, that can help us be more intentional and more effective with what we do there. Big opportunity, Anna,

Dr. Lora Morandin (30:01):

There is, there’s a lot of opportunity and that’s what I was, uh, sort of alluding to before with pollinators being a good news story. And conservation, is that from a pot on your balcony to your local community garden, your front yard, your Boulevard, or maybe you are a manager of a right of way. So any of those scales is helpful to pollinators.

Scott Luton (30:24):

Hmm. Um, okay. So, uh, we’re gonna make sure folks are how to connect with you and pollinator partnership in just a moment, uh, beyond the URL you shared, but let’s switch gears these last couple years. It goes about saying, uh, very unique times, uh, you know, Eureka moments. Some days we have ’em by the hour, it feels, um, whether it relates to, you know, the topic that, that that’s been, the center played item for us here today, or whether it relates to leadership or society in general, what’s been a, a key Eureka moment or for you, Laura,

Dr. Lora Morandin (30:56):

I don’t know if it’s a Eureka moment, but it’s been this, this last two years has been quite different for everybody. And I think a lot of people have really had that opening of their minds, that we are integral and intricate integrally connected to nature. Mm we’re. Not outside of it. And what we do to our land directly affects us. So is that related to climate change and some of the extreme things that have been happening, uh, in our, in our environments lately, or is it due to the, the pandemic, but we’ve all been impacted by what, where we are right now in the world. And I think that’s really opened people’s minds and maybe that’s sort of my, maybe not Eureka moment, but it’s a really good time to connect with people about this. And you don’t wanna take advantage of bad situations. That’s, that’s not what I’m trying to say. Right. But people are, people are ready for this. I think because it’s impacting them so directly right now, um, that people want to do something to help. And I think getting that little bit of knowledge about the best ways to help is really important. Mm. And in terms of pollinators and seeing this through the pollinator lens, we can help with that. Right. And it’s a really good way to look at it because to support pollinators, you’re creating habitat, which is really helping so many different things, so many different parts of our world.

Scott Luton (32:39):

Completely agree. And Laura, one of the things you kind of touched on there, um, and maybe one of the reasons why so many more folks are taking action and they’re open to it. They’re, they’re having their own Eureka moments is, you know, for, for those folks that like may, may maybe agreed like me, I’m a big problem solver, right? I’ve had people listen to me. I don’t need you to solve my problem. I need you to listen to me, but Hey, I’m hammer meets Nell, right? I wanna, I wanna hear a problem, fix it. And with these backyard gardens, with this landscaping, with the planning of flowers, and it is, um, actions that we can, we can take in a weekend, or maybe even in a day, depends on how effective you are. And for those of us that are big problem solvers, man, to take a, a backyard that has gone, you know, without maintenance and transform that, and also make it more livable, enjoyable, more supportive of wildlife and pollinators. I mean, again, for me, that goes back to that therapeutic aspect of it all, where we talked on the front end. So, uh, I love wonderful passionate resources like you and your team that helps us, uh, take advantage of the opportunities and in the right way. Right?

Dr. Lora Morandin (33:49):

Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Is that immediate action you can take. And what I have been blown away by is the immediate results that you’ll get too. So if you start looking at some of your garden plants, things like lavenders or mints, you’re gonna see a lot of bees on those, but once you start looking a little closer, you’re, you’re gonna see those are mostly honey bees and bumblebees, which are a native pollinator, but when you start planting native plants, you’ll go outside and buy that next year already. Or if you’re planting ’em in pots, maybe even by the first year that you plant them, you’re gonna see four or five, six different types of native bees on those plants right away. So it’s, it’s really fun and immediate results.

Scott Luton (34:34):

Love it. Okay. I’m gonna get some additional tips once we wrap up the interview, but again, really appreciate what you do, you and your colleagues at the, uh, pollinated partnership. Um, so I wanna make sure folks got the URL and how they can connect with you. What’s the easiest way to connect with you alar and your organization.

Dr. Lora Morandin (34:52):

Yeah. So, uh, please go to our websites. We have our us website, which is www.pollinator.pollinator.org and our Canadian website, www pollinator partnership.ca lots of free resources there, lots of information. There’s pollinator week kits. People can download to get more ideas for what they could do during pollinator week. And if you wanna contact us directly, you can get us at info, pollinator.org.

Scott Luton (35:23):

Oh, it’s just that easy. Great. And we’re, you know, we’re gonna make it even easier. We’re gonna put the links for each of those, uh, different aspects of the organization on the episode page. So you’re one click away from connecting with our new friends at poll native partnership, Hey, to our listeners, Hey, uh, out there, uh, fighting the fires, doing the good, um, you know, uh, doing the noble mission across global supply chain. Hey, you got some great opportunities here to help you de-stres while helping, uh, all of our, uh, dear, dear pollinators out there. Uh, Laura, thank you so much for your time and what you do. I feel like I have, uh, I, I thought I kind of knew something coming in this conversation, man, you have opened up my eyes to all, I didn’t know about our pollinators and beyond.

Dr. Lora Morandin (36:08):

Oh, well, thanks so much for having me on Scott.

Scott Luton (36:10):

You bet we’ll have to reconnect with you, uh, soon. Uh, big, thanks to Dr. Laura Miranda, again, research and conservation director with pollinator partnership and pollinator partnership, Canada, Laura, we look forward to reconnecting with you soon.

Dr. Lora Morandin (36:25):

Great. Thank you.

Scott Luton (36:27):

And to our listeners, hopefully you enjoyed this conversation as much as I have. Hopefully you’ve had a bit of a Eureka moment, maybe over the last hour, Hey, find a way to celebrate, uh, pollinator week, right? It runs June 20th through the 26th. Uh, it sounds like across north America and really the globe, uh, taking action. It’s all about taking action, right? Deed’s not words. Uh, Laura gave us plenty to act on here today. Uh, again, hopefully you’ve enjoyed this conversation. Scott Luton challenging you. Our, all of our listeners, all of us really do good. Give forward, be the change that’s needed. Take those simple steps, always something you can do keep moving forward. And we’ll see next time, right back here on supply chain now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (37:11):

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