Washington Native Bee Society
Monthly Meeting
February 27, 2025 @ 7:00 PM

Zach Portman | Obtaining a better understanding of bees through taxonomic research, iNaturalist, and natural history
February 27, 2025: Zach Portman
Zach Portman will talk about his recent and ongoing efforts to find new and cryptic bee species, show how iNaturalist has transformed our understanding of the biology and distribution of many bee species, and discuss how he has been integrating some of this knowledge into research on the basic biology and natural history of bees. Zach will discuss various challenges, including how to deal with the massive amounts of data and observations as well as the challenge to move the broader field of bee ecology beyond lethal inventory studies.

Zach Portman
Zach is a bee taxonomist at the University of Minnesota in the Cariveau Native Bee Lab. His current research focuses on the identification and taxonomy of Minnesota bees, pollen gathering behavior, and bee conservation. He received his PhD at Utah State University, studying native bees under Dr. Terry Griswold.