Last year, the Lindbergh School District and community of St. Louis raised money to fund a Lindbergh Grant project as part of their Lindbergh Legacy Project. They chose to support Dr. Gail Langellotto, whose research project was entitled, “Assessing the Dispersal of Bees and Butterflies among Greenspace Garden Habitats in Urban and Suburban Areas in order to Preserve These Necessary Pollinators.” Her research looked into what types of pollinators can be found in gardens, how abundant they are within the garden, garden characteristics that may increase the diversity and abundance of pollinators, and how successfully these insects can find natural havens among the parking lots and shopping malls.

Superintendent James Sandfort hoped that Dr. Langellotto would be able to return to the community of St. Louis to share the results of her research. On May 17, 2007, Dr. Gail, as she became lovingly known, returned for an incredibly inspiring day of talks to donors, teachers, and more than 200 eager and inquisitive second-graders.

A Day Full of Bees & Butterflies

Beginning with a donor breakfast, Dr. Gail presented the preliminary results of her research. She explained how green spaces and gardens are ecologically valuable, and reported that hers was one of the first studies of bees in urban and suburban gardens. As a result of her work, Dr. Gail has determined which species of bees are able to live in cities. She also discovered that the number of flowers present in a garden was the most important factor in attracting a diverse population of bees, and that landscaping factors had no discernable impact on bee diversity within the gardens. After breakfast, there was a workshop for second grade teachers. Dr. Gail discussed her research and how it might be applied in the curriculum.

In the afternoon, she spoke to all the second-graders in the Lindbergh School District about how the kids and their families could get involved with backyard activities that would attract bees and butterflies. She also explained why these insects are so vitally important to our daily lives.

Gail captured their attention by telling the kids interesting stories and fascinating

facts about pollinators. She told them ways to tell an old insect from a young insect; how some bees make their home by digging a hole in the ground and others build tents out of leaves; and the way others disguise themselves as a dangerous insect to fool other animals that might want to eat them. The day concluded with a talk to garden clubs and scout leaders about establishing habitats that attract bees and butterflies and the plants that could be used to attract these beneficial insects to their gardens.

“It was a WOW day for us,” Dr. Sandfort recalled. “Dr. Gail has the wonderful ability to impress donors, work with teachers and share her love of bees and butterflies with students. We have students who will remember this experience for a long time.”

Dr. Gail’s involvement with the school didn’t end with that single visit, however. A Pollinator Project web site was established by the Lindbergh School District, and was written by Gail. In it she explained that conservation efforts don’t have to take place in exotic far-away places of the world, in fact, we can take part in extremely important conservation efforts right in our own back yard. She also wrote about her research project, compiled links, and provided answers to questions from the students. You can visit the site at http://pages.lindberghschools.ws.

Gardens of Merit Project

Dr. Sandfort also stated that Gail’s visit became the catalyst for the district to encourage students and their families to develop home based gardens. The district is working with the Missouri Botanical Garden, which has established a Plants of Merit program, to create Gardens of Merit at each school site. The gardens will use native plants that thrive in Missouri. “Hopefully, we will become the first district to have gardens of merit at every school,” he said. Dr. Gail responded to this news by saying, “I applaud Dr. Sandfort and the Lindbergh School District for encouraging district families to develop home based gardens. Not only are these spaces potentially important to the conservation of native pollinators, but they serve as fantastic living laboratories and learning spaces where students can explore the natural world up close and personal.”

Dr. Gail is continuing her research at Oregon State University and is working with Master Gardeners to sample pollinator diversity in gardens across a very large geographic scale. This large-scale survey will be one of the most comprehensive surveys of bee diversity in gardens. She is also exploring the emerging field of landscape genetics to try to answer some questions about how pollinators move among developed landscapes. In addition, she is working to develop curriculum that will make garden ecology more accessible to school kids and adults.

“My visit to the Lindbergh School District was perhaps one of the best days of my professional life,” Dr. Gail said. “I absolutely loved how open the students were to learning about insect pollinators. They were so engaged and enthusiastic, and their questions were insightful and thoughtful. Their openness to learning made it a pleasure for me to express my own fascination with and love of insects and nature.”

“From our perspective, the work that Dr. Gail is doing is critical to the maintenance of the food chain in this country,” said Dr. Sandfort. “The great thing about her work is that every student in our district, and probably the country, can take action on her research and make a difference in their local community.”