When: August 22, 2025 @ 9:30 am
Join this tri-state community effort to help scientists understand pollinators!
The Great Southeast Pollinator Census is an easy community science initiative that collects data on pollinator populations. This project helps researchers track trends like how pollinators respond to weather patterns and how honeybees interact with native bees. All you need to help is 2 eyes, 1 flower, and 15 minutes!
Join us at Winding Stair Nursery (57 Saunders Rd, Franklin, NC 28734) at 9:30am on Friday, August 22nd to participate in this simple and fun research project. We’ll start with a brief crash course on local pollinators, with an emphasis on native pollinators; what even is a pollinator, how can you identify them, and how can we support them? Next, we’ll learn how to sort pollinating insects into broad categories, then disperse throughout the nursery to get to counting! Each participant will choose one flowering plant to count on, and after 15 minutes we’ll compare notes and see which plants were visited by which pollinators. Expect to be out for about 1.5-2 hours. Very little walking is required at this event; there are no steps to enter the nursery, and the paths within it are flat, wide, and made of gravel.
Participants are encouraged to bring a folding chair or stool to sit on while collecting data. Participants will also receive a counting sheet to take home with them so they can count on a plant in their backyard, along their favorite trail, or growing up out of the sidewalk in front of their house! Please bring water, sun protection, something to keep time with (like a watch or phone), and anything else you may need to be comfortable outside for this event.
Anyone in North Carolina, South Carolina, or Georgia can count pollinators for the Great Southeast Pollinator Census on Friday, August 22nd or Saturday, August 23rd. If you can’t make this event, email Skye to ask how you can participate on your own time!
This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Please fill out the form below to register.
This event is weather dependent. Email Skye at [email protected] with any questions. Please leave pets at home.
MEET YOUR TEACHER
As Mainspring’s Conservation Outreach Director, Skye Cahoon inspires people to connect with their local landscape and value the conservation efforts that protect it. As a kid, she could often be found climbing trees, hunting for salamanders, or chasing fish at the swimming hole. Her passion for nature grew with her, and in 2020 she earned her Zoology B.S. from the University of Maine. Integrating her experience in wildlife research with her excitement about the natural world, Skye now strives to make science fun and accessible. She leads a variety of educational programs here at Mainspring, and enjoys continuing to learn about the diverse and fascinating creatures that call the Southern Appalachians home.
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