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Accomplished Science Educator And Bee Expert Talks Trends, Myths Surrounding 6-Legged Friends

Bee expert Nicole Miller-Struttmann was recently awarded the 2019 Science Educator Award by the St. Louis Academy of Science.
Evie Hemphill | St. Louis Public Radio
Bee expert Nicole Miller-Struttmann was recently awarded the 2019 Science Educator Award by the St. Louis Academy of Science.
Bee expert Nicole Miller-Struttmann was recently awarded the 2019 Science Educator Award by the St. Louis Academy of Science.
Credit Evie Hemphill | St. Louis Public Radio
Bee expert Nicole Miller-Struttmann was recently awarded the 2019 Science Educator Award by the St. Louis Academy of Science.

The welfare of all sorts of insects has been garnering attention of late, with some disconcerting headlines about declining insect populations.

On Thursday’s St. Louis on the Air, St. Louis Public Radio’s Jeremy D. Goodwin talked with a local scientist to learn more about what is happening and how humans can help bees and other insects thrive.

Considered one of the top bee experts in the U.S., Webster University biologist Nicole Miller-Struttmann annually heads up a summer Bee Blitz in Forest Park, where photo enthusiasts spread out for an afternoon of bee photography that helps scientists track the population of bee species.

Miller-Struttmann also got some help from some of St. Louis’ youngest citizens during her recent research into the effects of solar eclipses on bee behavior, and she’s been involved in the development of a pollinator garden outside St. Louis Public Library’s downtown branch.

Earlier this month she was honored with the 2019 Science Educator Award by the St. Louis Academy of Science.

St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. “St. Louis on the Air” producers Alex Heuer, Evie Hemphill, Lara Hamdan and Jon Lewis give you the information you need to make informed decisions and stay in touch with our diverse and vibrant St. Louis region.

Send questions and comments about this story to feedback@stlpublicradio.org.

Copyright 2021 St. Louis Public Radio. To see more, visit St. Louis Public Radio.

Evie Hemphill joined the St. Louis on the Air team in February 2018. After earning a bachelor’s degree in English literature in 2005, she started her career as a reporter for the Westminster Window in Colorado. Several years later she went on to pursue graduate work in creative writing at the University of Wyoming and moved to St. Louis upon earning an MFA in the spring of 2010. She worked as writer and editor for Washington University Libraries until 2014 and then spent several more years in public relations for the University of Missouri–St. Louis before making the shift to St. Louis Public Radio.