Dr Liz Milla, ‘Bee patrols: How bees and other pollinating insects can help us monitor and protect Australia’s biodiversity’

Liz, Research Scientist from CSIRO, will show how DNA from pollen is being used to identify the pollen species carried by pollinating insects and how this helps to monitor and manage plant and insect species and to detect potential biosecurity threats.

Abstract

Many insects, particularly bees, provide pollination services that are crucial ecosystem services. The pollen that insects collect during foraging can also tell us a lot about the surrounding environment. In this talk, Liz will show how we are using DNA from pollen to identify the pollen species carried by pollinating insects and how this information can help us monitor and manage plant and insect species and help detect potential biosecurity threats.

Biography

Dr Liz Milla is a Research Scientist with the Environomics FSP Mapping Pollinator Networks project at CSIRO. Liz’s current research uses ecological and genomic tools to reveal interactions between plants and their insect pollinators. Her research on pollinator networks will contribute to biodiversity identification and help detect keystone plant and insect species for targeted conservation and management strategies.

Lunchtime talks are held at 12.30 pm every Thursday from February to November.  Talks last for 1 hour.  We welcome a gold coins donation. The Friends use donations received at each talk to support Gardens’ programs and development and thank all those who have donated.  Please note: unless otherwise indicated, talks are in the ANBG Theatrette.

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The Friends of the ANBG thank the speakers who volunteer their time and talents to further the knowledge of all attending events in the Gardens. Some summaries or PowerPoint presentations of Thursday talks are available to Friends at the ANBG library. A donation to the Friends for the use of this material will be gratefully accepted. Please direct queries about the talks to the Thursday Talks Team: email talks@friendsanbg.org.au

The talks are in line with COVID-19 guidelines which can change rapidly.