Northern CA PPSR Projects 1

Great Sunflower Project

• Organization Name

  SFSU Department of Biology
• Project Website

  http://www.greatsunflower.org
• Organization Website

  http://biology.sfsu.edu
• Partners

  N / A
• Contact Name

  Gretchen LeBuhn
• Contact Email

  sfbee@sfsu.edu
• Contact Phone

  617-484-6490
• Other Contact Information

  Great Sunflower Project
  The Polistes Foundation
  133 Washington St.
  Belmont, MA 02478

  Phone: 617-484-6490
  Fax: 617-484-6428
  E-mail: weickkd@aol.com

• Project Purpose (taken from project materials)

  We know that pollinators are declining in certain wild and many agricultural landscapes. However, little is known about urban pollinators. While the loss of these pollinators is important, it is more important to understand what effect these losses have had on pollinator services.

  By finding a way to track and value the goods and services provided by natural ecosystems, we will find a future in which conservation is not a luxury but a guiding principle of daily decision-making throughout the world. The data you collect from your sunflower will be a start. It will provide an insight into how our green spaces in the urban, suburban and rural landscapes are connected as well as shedding light on how to help pollinators. What we need are innovative strategies to maximize the benefits of our wild and semi-wild habitat remnants. The Great Sunflower Project is the first step.

• Participant Activities

  Our project is going to use data collected by people like you to produce the first real map of the state of the bees. You can help. Plant a sunflower! Tell a friend! We've made it easy. Plant a seed or two, spend 15 minutes watching your flowers twice a month and send or input your data. Plant, Watch, Type. That's it.

• Data Entry

  • Website
• Other Participant Activities

  N / A
• System Studied

  • Plants
  • Invertebrates
• Geographic Scope

  National
• Region

  N / A
• Location

  urban backyards
• Location - Map

  SF State University 1600 Holloway Avenue . San Francisco . CA 94132
• Time Commitment

  • Other (see Other Information below)
• Volunteer Qualifications

  None

• Volunteer Training

  None

• Cost to Participant

  5$ or minimal

• How will the findings be used?

  We know very little about bee activity in home and community gardens and their surrounding environments, but we are certain that they are a crucial link in the survival of native habitats and local produce, not to mention our beautiful urban gardens. Our local pollinator populations require our understanding & protection, and to answer that call we need to determine where and when they are at work.

  With enough citizen scientists collecting data, we can learn much more, much faster, about the current state of bee activity.

  Individual data is collected and reported back to participant and there is a map of all the sitings so far at http://www.greatsunflower.org/2010-map 

• Other Information

  Each bee sample is taken for 15 minutes at each flower for multiple days through sun flower blooming season.

• Photo

  
• last update:

  N / A