Date/Time
10/17/2023
6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Location
Wood Lake Nature Center
6710 Lake Shore Drive, Richfield
Oaks, Fire, and Climate Change
Heather Holm
Wild One Twin Cities is honored to host Heather Holm in person at Wood Lake Nature Center with co-hosts Arrowhead, Big River Big Woods and St Croix Oak Savanna Chapters joining us via Zoom. Registration required for In Person attendance. This event will be Big River Big Woods’ October chapter meeting.
Natural landscapes in the US and Canada have been drastically altered by human activities such as infrastructure development, logging, overgrazing, introduction of invasive species, and fire suppression. However, prior to Euro-American settlement, highly functional and biodiverse oak and/or pine grassland systems dominated throughou much of the continent. With the current threat of climate change, it is crucial to understand the past and present ecological conditions of these landscapes to inform future restoration efforts.
The presentation will look into the past to understand grassland systems at the time of Euro-American settlement and discuss how Native Americans managed and influenced the composition of these grassland systems with their regular use of fire. Heather will also discuss the impacts of fire as a strong selective pressure on keystone plants and bees. Pivoting to look into the future using projected climate modeling, Heather will address the ecological conditions today, focusing on oak ecosystems and grasslands, then paint a picture of what a functional, biodiverse, and resilient landscape may look like in the future, and what actions are needed to achieve these outcomes.
ABOUT THE PRESENTER
Heather Holm is a biologist, pollinator conservationist, and award-winning author. She passionately informs and educates audiences nationwide, through her writing and many presentations, about the fascinating world of native pollinators and beneficial insects, and the native plant communities that support them.
Heather is the author of four books: Pollinators of Native Plants (2014), Bees (2017), Wasps (2021), and Common Native Bees of the Eastern United States (2022). Both Bees and Wasps have won multiple book awards including the American Horticultural Society Book Award (2018 and 2022 respectively). Heather’s expertise includes the interactions between native pollinators and native plants, and the natural history and biology of native bees and predatory wasps. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune, and many local publications. Heather is also an accomplished photographer and her pollinator photos are frequently featured in print and electronic publications.
Heather is a National Honorary Director of Wild Ones. She also serves on the boards of the following non-profits: Friends of Cullen Nature Preserve and Bird Sanctuary, Friends of Minnetonka Parks, and her local Wild Ones chapter, Prairie Edge. In her spare time, she is an active community supporter, writing grants, and coordinating and participating in volunteer ecological landscape restoration projects. The latest project is a 13-acre oak savanna restoration that will provide thriving habitat for pollinators, birds, mammals, and passive, nature-based opportunities for people.