Expert on Honeybees to Speak at Grinnell College on Oct. 11
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Date: Thursday, Oct. 11
Place: Room 2021, Noyce Science Center, 1116 Eighth Ave., Grinnell
Heather Swan, a poet, beekeeper, and author of Where Honeybees Thrive: Stories from the Field, will give a presentation at Grinnell College titled “Honeybees: Threats and Resilience.”
In Where Honeybees Thrive, Swan recounts her voyage to discover solutions to — and understand the sources of — the plight of honeybees. A special feature of the book is Swan's incorporation of art as part of her narrative of discovery. Her presentation will highlight some of what she has learned about one of the most remarkable domesticated animals in the world.
The western or European honeybee (Apis millifera) is one of roughly 20,000 known species of bees in the world, but it has assumed tremendous economic importance as a domesticated pollinator of crops worldwide. In recent decades, honeybee populations have been threatened by habitat destruction, widespread pesticide use, and Colony Collapse Disorder.
About the Speaker
Heather Swan, an author, poet, and beekeeper, is also a lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she teaches writing and environmental literature. Her book, Where Honeybees Thrive: Stories from the Field (2017, Pennsylvania State University Press), won the Sigurd F. Olson Award for Nature Writing in 2018.
Swan's nonfiction has appeared in such places as Aeon, ISLE, Resilience Journal, Edge Effects, Basalt, About Place, and Minding Nature. Her poetry has been published in journals such as Poet Lore, Phoebe, The Raleigh Review, The Hopper, Cold Mountain Review, and The Cream City Review.