EVENTS

Four unique biomes converge within Minnesota along a southwest to northeast continuum. Prior to Euro-American settlement, the four contiguous biomes included prairie grassland in southwest and west, tallgrass aspen parkland in the northwest, boreal forest in the northeast, and a mixture of oak savanna, oak woodland, and deciduous forest sandwiched in the middle of these western and eastern biomes. These landscapes have since been radically altered and, with the climate warming, what does the future have in store for Minnesota’s landscape and remaining biome fragments? The presentation will look into the past to understand these biomes at the time of Euro-American settlement, and discuss how Native Americans managed and influenced the composition of the biomes with the regular use of fire. 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.
 
Heather Holm is a pollinator conservationist and award-winning author who spends much of her time passionately educating audiences about the fascinating world of native bees and the native plants that support them. Her first book, Pollinators of Native Plants was published in 2014, and her second book, Bees: An Identification and Native Plant Forage Guide, published in 2017, has won six book awards including the 2018 American Horticultural Society Book Award. Her latest book, Wasps, Their Biology, Diversity and Role as Beneficial Insects and Pollinators of Native Plants, was published in February 2021. Heather’s expertise includes the interactions between native pollinators and native plants, and the natural history and biology of native bees and predatory wasps occurring in the Upper Midwest and Northeast.
 
Heather is a National Honorary Director of Wild Ones. She also serves on the board of the Friends of Cullen Nature Preserve and Bird Sanctuary. In her spare time, Heather is an active community supporter, writing grants and coordinating neighborhood volunteer landscape restoration projects. Currently, she is working on three projects with volunteers, restoring approximately ten acres of city-owned park land in her neighborhood for pollinators and people.