This month's speaker is Melanie Kirby. She will discuss bees and the intersections of landscape, biodiversity, and multifaceted ecosystems through a story and science-telling lens sharing how conservation of species, leads to conservation of self.

The bees found Melanie by assignment 25 years ago when she was serving as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Paraguay, South America. They have since taken her on an unexpected and enlightening journey learning more about the environment including agroecology, food systems, land stewardship, and cultural approaches to conservation. Melanie holds a Master of Science degree in Entomology and synthesizes her Indigenous World View heritage with sustainable western agriculture science. She specializes in biodynamic bee breeding, and she is a writer, a ceramicist, a Fulbright-National Geographic Storytelling Fellow Explorer, and serves as the Extension Educator for the Institute of American Indian Arts.