Dave Goulson: Silent Earth

01/04/22 • 29 min

Dave Goulson is a Professor of Biology at the University of Sussex (England), who specializes in bee ecology. Professor Goulson has published more than 300 scientific articles on the ecology and conservation of bumblebees and other insects, plus seven books, including the Sunday Times bestsellers “A Sting in the Tale” (2013), “The Garden Jungle” (2019), and “Silent Earth” (2021). In 2015 he was named number 8 in BBC Wildlife Magazine’s list of the top 50 most influential people in conservation. In 2018, 2019 and 2020 he was named as a “Highly Cited Researcher” by Thompson ISI. He founded the Bumblebee Conservation Trust in 2006, a charity which has grown to 12,000 members and is a trustee of the Pesticide Action Network, as well as an “Ambassador” for the UK Wildlife Trusts, and president of Pesticide Free Scotland. Tune in to learn more about:

His latest book “Silent Earth”, written in the tradition of Rachel Carson’s groundbreaking environmental classic Silent Spring, where he explains the importance of insects to our survival, and offers a clarion call to avoid a looming ecological disaster of our own making;
His fascination about insects that started from an early age and why they are important to us and to our lives;
Pollination facts, even coffee and cocoa need pollinators;
The difference between bumblebees and honeybees, and the unknown fact that there are over 20,000 of known bees species;
Neonicotinoids and their negative impact on soil, streams and bees;
Insects as food - and how 80% of the world actually eat insects;
Global warming and the impact on insects;
His wish for each one of us is to welcome nature, to plant pollinator friendly flowers and not to spray any pesticides, as well as to buy local and organic food.

To learn more about Dave Goulson's work go to https://profiles.sussex.ac.uk/p126217-dave-goulson.

His latest book “Silent Earth”, written in the tradition of Rachel Carson’s groundbreaking environmental classic Silent Spring, where he explains the importance of insects to our survival, and offers a clarion call to avoid a looming ecological disaster of our own making;
His fascination about insects that started from an early age and why they are important to us and to our lives;
Pollination facts, even coffee and cocoa need pollinators;
The difference between bumblebees and honeybees, and the unknown fact that there are over 20,000 of known bees species;
Neonicotinoids and their negative impact on soil, streams and bees;
Insects as food - and how 80% of the world actually eat insects;
Global warming and the impact on insects;
His wish for each one of us is to welcome nature, to plant pollinator friendly flowers and not to spray any pesticides, as well as to buy local and organic food.

To learn more about Dave Goulson's work go to https://profiles.sussex.ac.uk/p126217-dave-goulson.

Previous Episode

Dr. Joan Dye Gussow: Grow Your Own Food, Eat Healthy and Be Active (re-run)

Dr. Joan Dye Gussow is a Professor Emeritus of Nutrition and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, nutritionist, writer, and gardener. She was one of the first experts to advocate, as early as the 1970’s, that we “eat locally, think globally.” As a nonagenarian, she is still teaching, gardening and cooking her own food. Tune in to learn more about:

– The breakdown of our food system during COVID-19;

– Ultra processed food – 60% of food that Americans are eating;

– How to empower people with information;

– How the current pandemic is changing our food behaviors;

– Her own garden.

In 2010, Gussow told The New York Times, “You can’t be optimistic about the state of the world — what you can be is open-minded. You’re going to look for solutions, and you’re going to make your own life mean something. You can no longer think that accumulating money or the biggest house is the answer.”

Next Episode

Aimée Code: The Xerces Society and The Protection of Invertebrates

Aimée Code is the Pesticide Program Director at the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. For more than 20 years she has worked to promote ecologically-sound pest management. In 2013, she launched Xerces Pesticide Program. In this role, she works with community activists, farmers, scientists and decision makers to eliminate harmful pesticide uses and create resilient landscapes. Tune in to learn more about:

About the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation and their work to protect the natural world through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitats;

How pesticides harm pollinators;

More than 90% of all animals are invertebrates and the US has over 4,000 species of bees;

Why it is hard to collect data on the numbers of invertebrates;

The sad truth that if humans would disappear from Earth the invertebrates would still be able to survive, but not the other way around;

About Community Science, like the Bumblebee Watch;

The slight increase of the Western Monarch Butterflies;

About anthropogenic stressors and how we as humans can make choices that can support pollinators;

About Bee Hotels, which are natural nesting habitats for bees and other insects;

Steps and ideas on how to bring back pollinators;

The value of mosquitos;

How the current pandemic taught us to spend more time in nature and national parks.

To learn more about Aimée's work go to https://www.xerces.org.

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