Jane Memmott, Professor of Ecology, University of Bristol School of Biological Sciences will talk about her current research in Community Ecology and will introduce the audience to some of the problems facing pollinators along with some of the solutions to these problems.

Professor Memmott is the lead investigator of the Urban Pollinators Project and will discuss some of the past, ongoing and future work on pollinators undertaken by her research group at the University of Bristol. This will include projects which look at habitat restoration, the impact of alien plants such as Himalayan balsam on pollinators and the conservation of pollinators on farms and urban habitats.

Her research interests in ecology include pollination ecology, invasion ecology, agro-ecology, biological control, urban ecology and restoration ecology. She works as both a pure and an applied ecologist and is particularly keen on working at the interface between the two disciplines. Her group uses a wide variety of techniques: from field observation to field experiment, and from theory to molecular approaches.

Professor Memmott explains further: “A theme that runs through many of my projects is the use of ecological networks as a tool to answer a variety of environmental questions. For example does restoration ecology restore ecological function, are ecosystem services affected by farming approach and how do aliens integrate into ecological networks.?”

Admission: Free to Friends of the Botanic Garden (on production of membership card).  Visitors will be asked for a £5 donation.

Further information: 0117 331 4906

Event taken from Botanic Garden website.