Media advisory: Nationally recognized expert can discuss White House pollinator plan

LAWRENCE — Today, a task force appointed by President Obama unveiled a national strategy to protect honeybees, monarch butterflies and other pollinators. Under supervision of the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Agriculture, the strategy aims to reduce honeybee colony loss, boost monarch butterfly populations to safeguard their yearly migration, and “restore or enhance” millions of acres of land for pollinators.

University of Kansas insect ecologist Chip Taylor is a nationally recognized authority on pollinators. He researches species assemblages, hybridization, reproductive biology, population dynamics and plant demographics and pollination. In 1992, Taylor founded Monarch Watch, an outreach program focused on education, research and conservation relative to monarch butterflies. The program has enlisted the help of volunteers to tag monarchs and produced many new insights into the dynamics of the monarch migration. In 2005, Taylor created the Monarch Waystation program to inspire the public, schools and others to create habitats for monarch butterflies and to assist Monarch Watch in educating the public about the decline in resources for monarchs, pollinators and all wildlife that share the same habitats.

“I don’t think this report is window dressing,” Taylor said. “It says we really need all hands on deck. This problem is bigger than government alone can handle, or the private sector. We’re going to have to create habitat with million of gardens, change how we manage our roadsides and marginal habitats, and have a minor shift in our whole culture. The things that we’re ignoring are actually supporting us.”

As to bees, Taylor said: “The bottom line is that we’re one harsh winter way from having a crisis in the number of bees needed to pollinate our crops. The White House has been particularly concerned about this food security issue. They’re hoping to increase habitat. We’re the most dependent country in world on honeybees for production of our crops.”

Taylor also addressed the dwindling population of monarch butterflies, whose migration through North America is among the most exceptional natural wonders in the world.

“We have to make monarchs a national priority,” he said. “It would be an embarrassment if a county as rich and capable as the United States loses the monarch migration because of our inattention to detail. We can do this — it’s not an unsolvable problem.”

To schedule an interview with Taylor, contact Brendan M. Lynch at Brendan@ku.edu or 785-312-0207