Skills and Services
Expert consulting, survey, educational/outreach, and other support services: botany, bees, agriculture, education, and advocacy.
Botany
Brian is available for botanical consults and surveys. Brian has decades of experience as a botanist. He has conducted botanical surveys in California, Oregon, Alaska, Colorado, and Hawaii. He has surveyed for Federally Endangered species, other species of concern, noxious weeds, and even upper canopy lichens! Most of the botany work has been on public lands (USFS, BLM, NPS) but also private. He has worked as a National Park Service botanist for multiple national parks in rugged and remote areas - including as field team leader. Mesa Verde National Park, Denali National Park, Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, Channel Islands National Park are all previous places of employment. Brian has worked in Six Rivers, Mendocino, Shasta-Trinity, Plumas, Willamette, and Umpqua National Forests. He has worked as a greenhouse facility/project manager for multiple universities/colleges. Brian has a master’s degree in biology from Cal Poly Humboldt. He has taught multiple botany labs and classes.
LinkedIn Recommendation: “Brian performed at Mesa Verde National Park doing an excellent job at plant surveys, plant mapping, and various reports. He was able to learn the terrain, record habitats, and was excellent at plant identification.” (Marilyn Colter, NPS)
From a letter of recommendation: “In addition to collecting high-quality data in challenging terrain and weather conditions, Brian was also an excellent member of the team, interacting with colleagues and myself in a calm, quiet, friendly, and professional way and in a way that promoted harmony and teamwork.” (Carl Roland, Plant Ecologist Denali National Park, NPS)
Bees
Brian is available for bee surveys. He has a Scientific Collection Permit (SCP) from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) for California Endangered Species Act (CESA) listed bumble bees. Brian received California Bumble Bee Atlas Project (Xerces Society & California Department of Fish and Wildlife) training and certification, and took the ‘Native Bee Survey and Curation Shortcourse’ from Oregon State University and the Oregon Department of Agriculture. Brian has a master’s in biology from Cal Poly Humboldt: research focused on the pollination ecology of a rare serpentine endemic plant. He regularly conducts outreach and teaches about bees.
@native_bee_society on Instagram for bee photos.
Agriculture
Brian has agricultural skills to share. He owned and operated his own food farm ‘Bee Friendly Farm’ for 4 years, and coordinated hedgerow creation and high tunnel/hoop house installation with the NRCS, and created space for native community members with ancestral ties to cultivate traditional food plants. Brian worked for the North Coast Growers’ Association for 2 seasons as a local famers market manager. He worked in agricultural extension for the University of Hawaii, researching ways to aid macadamia pollination and honey bee health, support beneficial pest-reducing coccinellid beetles, control invasive thrips; work involved nursery raising of endemic plants. As greenhouse facility manager for the University of Oregon Brian coordinated plant care for the Urban Farm, and cared for a wide variety of other plant research projects (including indoor and outdoor corn). Brian has multiple years of experience working on food farms, and in support of local food sovereignty.
Education-Outreach
Brian has taught for multiple universities/colleges, including general botany and plant taxonomy laboratories, and an online graduate level entomology course on the global history of beekeeping. He has taught for a decade in the continuing education/extended education and lifelong learning area including courses such as Intro to Native Bees, Native Bees of North America, Native Bees of Oregon, All About Bees, Decolonizing Bees, Helping Pollinators 101, Bee-Hunters and Bee-Trees (A History in North America), Mythology of the Bee, Bees and World Religions, Bees and Spirituality, Bees in Myths, Legends, Fables and Fairy Tales, Mason Bee Management, and Plant Intelligence. Brian earned a College Faculty Preparation Program certificate from Cal Poly Humboldt in 2014. He has taught for the University of Oregon, Cal Poly Humboldt, University of Maryland, Lane Community College, and the Siskiyou Field Institute. He has been an outdoor educator, high-school educational aide, conducted public outreach on endangered species, and given presentations for many groups. Brian is currently working on a series of online courses related to bees.
LinkedIn Recommendation: “Brian has served as the Education Chair for the California Native Plant Society, North Coast Chapter since 2011. During his year with the organization he has successfully promoted many of our events to the public through outreach and advertising. He also played a major role in the success of the spring wildflower show by encouraging local teachers to bring their students to the event. We, as an organization, appreciate Brian's hard work as a volunteer--promoting a love a native plants” (Michael Kauffman, educator, Backcountry Press)
Also see Cal Poly Humboldt student evaluations (further below).
Human Rights Advocacy
I make sustained efforts to be a supportive collaborator and ally for Indigenous People and Communities. Currently I assist the native-founded, native-led non-profit Native Health in Native Hands and their work in cultural arts, cultural fire, language revitalization, and ancestral lands access. I put logistical support (grant-writing/administration, research, editorial) and ethnobotanical skills towards this task. In the past I have volunteered at the United Nations for the Indigenous People’s Centre for Documentation, Research and Information, and interned with Cultural Survival. I strongly believe that cross-cultural collaborative problem solving requires maximum respect for the autonomy of Indigenous Peoples. Click each of these images to learn more.
Editorial -Writing - Research
Brian is available for editorial assistance. He has worked as a professional copy editor for pre-publication scientific and interdisciplinary articles (eWorldEditing). Brian previously served on the editorial board, and as chief editor for Ethnoentomology: an Open Journal of Ethnoentomology and Cultural Entomology. Brian was the intern assistant editor for Cultural Survival Quarterly.
Brian has been published in the Cultural Survival Quarterly, Darlingtonia (Newsletter of the North Coast Chapter of the California Native Plant Society), Dunesberry (Newsletter of Friends of the Dunes), and the North Coast Journal. Recently he was a contributing author and photo contributor (Hymenoptera section) to The Klamath Mountains: A Natural History (2023 California Book Award Gold Medal).
Currently Brian is working on series of books and publications about bees.
Consults
Consultations are available for yard design/landscaping for pollinators, food gardens, land restoration, permaculture design, hedgerow design and implementation, school gardens/pollinator gardens, and more. This can be on the phone, on zoom and in person. Reasonable rates.
Student Evaluations
I receive student evaluations through teaching at Cal Poly Humboldt. Here are some quotes, each from a different student:
“Brian presented one of the best classes I have attended.”
“Throughout the whole session Brian enthusiasm and spirit had me totally engaged.”
“Brian is an outstanding teacher. I learned a great deal and will recommend it to others.”
“Excellent instructor extremely knowledgeable and with fun personality and presentation.”
“The instructor was very engaging and encouraged a lot of class participation -- the whole experience was great.”
“I enjoyed his entire presentation and observations. He is both intellectual and very entertaining. Casual and deeply thoughtful style.”
“Brian was enthusiastic and very well informed. He clearly had given much thought to preparing for this course, and made it immensely enjoyable and engrossing.”
“This was such a thought provoking class. Instructor was able to convey information in layperson’s terms, not an easy thing when it comes to the sciences. So glad I took this class!“
“About bees, amazing and Brian knew so much. I want to know more. Brian's erudition came through with all the resources he shared and the visuals he had.”
“The instructor has an in-depth understanding of how bees and humans have interacted over time. This class was thought provoking…”
“There was clarity about what he was about to present, (and didn't jump around) The basic info about the bees was fascinating.”
“I was impressed with the resources Brian had gathered and put together...very interesting and impressive.”
“Accessing some of the resources from his wonderful handout, the best course handout I've ever seen.”
“The information the teacher shared was fascinating, and reflect a tremendous amount of research.”
“Brian was very knowledgeable about the subject”
“I was learning so much about the world of bees.”
“The entire class was fascinating. I learned a lot.”
“Nice blend of philosophy and science!”
