August 21 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
You can be part of the Great Southeast Pollinator Census. Come out to Castaway Island Preserve on Friday, August 21 from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. to help with this citizen science project. The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and Duval County Master Gardener Volunteers will host the event to gather useful data to help researchers identify trends and examine how weather affects pollinator populations and how honey bees influence native bee populations.
You will be asked to choose a pollinator plant and record the number of times an insect lands. You don’t have to know all the names of the bees and butterflies, just what category to put your pollinator under.
The pollinator census will be happening at other locations around town on Friday and Saturday morning as well. For details on additional locations, visit https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/duvalco/2026/07/31/duval-county-locations-for-the-great-southeast-pollinator-census/
This is a multi-state citizen science project that was started by the University of Georgia in 2017 with 50 gardeners counting pollinator landings on plants. Since then, it has expanded to South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi.
