Urban Pollination Project

Susan Waters is a scientist at the University of Washington, and she’s trying to get the public’s help with citizen science research on bee colony collapse and urban farming. They have just 21 days to raise $1600 to keep the project going for another year, and they currently have a Christmas countdown on their site, with a new entry every day showing how pollinators contribute to Christmas holiday traditions and foods. Here’s what she sent us:

Interested in sustainable food, gardening in the city, local urban biodiversity?

Help us count down!  The Urban Pollination Project, a Seattle citizen science project dedicated to researching and conserving native bees and increasing urban garden crop yields, begins a special version of the Twelve Days of Christmas today—the Twelve Sustainable Days of Christmas Pollination!

Visit http://www.facebook.com/urbanpollination or www.urbanpollinationproject.org every day between now and New Year’s Day to learn how pollinators—bees, flies, butterflies, birds, bats, and others—have contributed to your holiday foods and traditions.

You can also find the Urban Pollination Project on Twitter and Facebook.