Pollinator Learning Series
Join the Vermont Center for Ecostudies, Cedar Circle, and the Montshire Museum of Science for a three-part learning series on pollinators and conservation, featuring expert-led presentations on creating wildlife-friendly landscapes, understanding Vermont’s natural communities, and building better habitat for pollinators. Learn from Dr. Desiree Narango about the vital connections between native plants, insects, and birds; discover Vermont’s rich ecosystems with Dr. Ryan Rebozo; and, explore ways to support wild pollinators with Dr. Dana Williams. Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or a curious beginner, this series offers practical steps to protect biodiversity and make a difference in your own backyard. Attend individual presentations or all three!
This learning series is made possible with support from One Hive Foundation.
Series Workshops
Please note that all 3 workshops will be held at Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich, Vermont.
- Feb. 25 (1–2 p.m.) | Cultivating Pollinator and Songbird Conservation with Native Plants with Dr. Desirée Narango
- Mar. 18 (4–5 p.m.) | Vermont’s Natural Communities with Dr. Ryan Rebozo
- Apr. 22 (4–5 p.m.) | Conservation in Your Backyard: How to Build Better Habitat for Pollinators with Dr. Dana Williams
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Click here to view a full list of upcoming workshops at Cedar Circle.
Cultivating Pollinator and Songbird Conservation with Native Plants
Date: Tuesday, February 25th
Time: 1:00–2:00 p.m.
Cost: Free
Location: Montshire Museum of Science, 1 Montshire Rd, Norwich, VT 05055
Gardens are created to be beautiful, but they can be ecologically functional as well. Strategically choosing native plants and nature-friendly management practices can transform the places we live, work, and play into living landscapes that sustain local food webs. In this talk, conservation scientist Dr. Desiree Narango will provide background on the ecological and evolutionary relationships between native plants and native insects, why insects matter to birds, and steps you can take in your yards and gardens to improve habitat for wildlife. She will also share her recent work comparing native and non-native plants and share evidence for why native plants are an essential component of wildlife habitat.
Vermont’s Natural Communities
Date: Tuesday, March 18th
Time: 4:00–5:00 p.m.
Cost: Free
Location: Montshire Museum of Science, 1 Montshire Rd, Norwich, VT 05055
Join Dr. Ryan Rebozo, the Vermont Center for Ecostudies’ Science Director, on an exciting journey through Vermont’s diverse natural communities. Together, we’ll uncover the unique plants and animals that call these ecosystems home, and explore their critical role in supporting biodiversity. Discover how these habitats evolve over time and why their conservation is vital for the future of Vermont’s wildlife. Whether you’re a seasoned nature enthusiast or a curious beginner, this workshop will deepen your connection to the wild world around us.
Conservation in Your Backyard: How to Build Better Habitat for Pollinators
Date: Tuesday, April 22nd
Time: 4:00–5:00 p.m.
Cost: Free
Location: Montshire Museum of Science, 1 Montshire Rd, Norwich, VT 05055
Vermont is home to hundreds of species of wild pollinators and some of them are living right in your backyard! Join the Vermont Center for Ecostudies’ Community Science Coordinator, Dr. Dana Williams, to explore which species live near you, what you can do to help them thrive throughout the year and how you can contribute to pollinator conservation across Vermont.
Meet the Presenters
Dr. Desirée Narango
Desiree’s research focuses on biodiversity conservation and habitat restoration in the face of global change. She primarily studies plants, insects, and birds with a particular focus on multi-trophic interactions, habitat relationships of wildlife with specialized life histories, and mechanistic approaches to applied ecology.
Much of Desiree’s work takes place in forests of all types, from naturally regenerating and preserved forests to novel ecosystems significantly altered by people, such as urban street trees, residential yards, and agroforestry. Her interdisciplinary work uses field, lab, and modeling-based approaches to answer questions that span across scales and taxa.
As a conservation biologist at VCE, Desiree’s ultimate goal is to help land managers and communities implement effective and efficient action to support biodiversity and people in a rapidly changing world. She is also strongly committed to public outreach and communication, collaborations between scientists and artists, and improving diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in ecology and conservation.
Desiree joined Vermont Center for Ecostudies in 2022. Before joining VCE, she was a David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellow at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a postdoctoral fellow at City University of New York. She completed her Ph.D. in Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware in 2018, an MS in Natural Resources from the Ohio State University in 2012, and a BS in Environmental Biology from SUNY: ESF in 2006.
Dr. Ryan Robozo
Ryan joined Vermont Center for Ecostudies in 2021 after serving as the Director of Conservation Science for the Pinelands Preservation Alliance in New Jersey. He completed his PhD at Drexel University in 2015 and received his BS in ecology from Rutgers University in 2010.
Ryan is an ecologist whose interests include disturbance ecology, plant-insect interactions, mycology, and rare plant demography. Ryan has served on the executive committees of several organizations including the Partnership for New Jersey Plant Conservation, the Monroe Environmental Commission, the Philadelphia Botanical Club, Burlington County Soil Conservation District, and the Barnegat Bay Science and Technical Advisory Committee.
Ryan lives in Bradford, Vermont where he enjoys hiking in the mountains and exploring his new home state.
Dr. Dana Williams
As a child, Dana learned to love nature in the hills of Rowe, Massachusetts guided by her grandmother and parents. This passion carried over to working on a number of field projects including the Kalahari Meerkat Project and Team Marmot at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, before focusing on community involvement in science.
Before joining Vermont Center for Ecostudies, Dana worked as the Programs Director for Williamstown Rural Lands, a small land trust in Massachusetts, where she ran programs to connect people with their local environment including natural history walks, kids camps, field trips and more. She received her B.A. in Biology from Wellesley College in 2014 and her Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from UCLA in 2021. While she now lives in the Upper Valley she still maintains connections to home serving as a Trustee for the Rowe Historical Society – a position she took over from her grandmother. When not meeting up with community members, she can be found investigating local New England history, hitting the xc ski trails or out looking for cool ferns.
