Wild Boyz Photography Photos of the wild
  • ABOUT
    • OUR MISSION
    • OUR TEAM
      • INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY
    • PARTNERS
      • NONPROFIT PARTNERS
      • PRINTING PARTNERS
    • GET INVOLVED
    • CREATIVE COMMONS
    • CONTACT
  • GALLERIES
    • May Gallery 2025
    • April Gallery 2025
    • March Gallery 2025
    • February Gallery 2025
    • January Gallery 2025
    • Archive 2024
      • January Gallery 2024
      • February Gallery 2024
      • March Gallery 2024
      • April Gallery 2024
      • May Gallery 2024
      • June Gallery 2024
      • July Gallery 2024
      • August Gallery 2024
      • September Gallery 2024
      • October Gallery 2024
      • Best of 2024 Gallery
    • Archive 2023
      • January Gallery 2023
      • February Gallery 2023
      • March Gallery 2023
      • April Gallery 2023
      • May Gallery 2023
      • June Gallery 2023
      • July Gallery 2023
      • August Gallery 2023
      • September Gallery 2023
      • October Gallery 2023
      • November Gallery 2023
      • Best of 2023 Gallery
    • Archive 2022
      • January Gallery 2022
      • February Gallery 2022
      • March Gallery 2022
      • April Gallery 2022
      • May Gallery 2022
      • June Gallery 2022
      • July Gallery 2022
      • August Gallery 2022
      • September Gallery 2022
      • October Gallery 2022
      • November Gallery 2022
    • Archive 2021
      • January Gallery 2021
      • February Gallery 2021
      • March Gallery 2021
      • April Gallery 2021
      • May Gallery 2021
      • June Gallery 2021
      • July Gallery 2021
      • August Gallery 2021
      • September Gallery 2021
      • October Gallery 2021
      • November Gallery 2021
      • Best of 2021 Gallery
    • ARCHIVE 2020
      • January Gallery 2020
      • February Gallery 2020
      • March Gallery 2020
      • April Gallery 2020
      • May Gallery 2020
      • June Gallery 2020
      • July Gallery 2020
      • August Gallery 2020
      • September Gallery 2020
      • October Gallery 2020
      • November Gallery 2020
      • Best of 2020 Gallery
    • ARCHIVE 2019
      • April Gallery 2019
      • May Gallery 2019
      • June Gallery 2019
      • July Gallery 2019
      • August Gallery 2019
      • September Gallery 2019
      • October Gallery 2019
      • November Gallery 2019
  • GUEST GALLERIES
    • LIZ MURPHY – NUDIBRANCHS
    • BILL SHAMICK – TURTLES
    • NICK IVERS
    • KBSTRRC
    • MELANIE CHENEY
    • BRUCE LEANDER
    • RELEAF MICHIGAN
    • THE XERCES SOCIETY
    • ROCK HOLLOW WOODS
    • OCEAN DEFENDERS ALLIANCE
    • VERMONT INSTITUTE OF NATURAL SCIENCE
    • SYCAMORE LAND TRUST
    • CORA BERCHEM – SAVE THE MANATEE CLUB
    • BRUCE LEANDER – WILDFLOWER CENTER
    • ALEX NEUFELD – CRF
    • WARD 8 WOODS
  • BLOG
  • |
  • DONATE
  • STORE
  • CARDS
  • ABOUT
    • OUR MISSION
    • OUR TEAM
      • INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY
    • PARTNERS
      • NONPROFIT PARTNERS
      • PRINTING PARTNERS
    • GET INVOLVED
    • CREATIVE COMMONS
    • CONTACT
  • GALLERIES
    • May Gallery 2025
    • April Gallery 2025
    • March Gallery 2025
    • February Gallery 2025
    • January Gallery 2025
    • Archive 2024
      • January Gallery 2024
      • February Gallery 2024
      • March Gallery 2024
      • April Gallery 2024
      • May Gallery 2024
      • June Gallery 2024
      • July Gallery 2024
      • August Gallery 2024
      • September Gallery 2024
      • October Gallery 2024
      • Best of 2024 Gallery
    • Archive 2023
      • January Gallery 2023
      • February Gallery 2023
      • March Gallery 2023
      • April Gallery 2023
      • May Gallery 2023
      • June Gallery 2023
      • July Gallery 2023
      • August Gallery 2023
      • September Gallery 2023
      • October Gallery 2023
      • November Gallery 2023
      • Best of 2023 Gallery
    • Archive 2022
      • January Gallery 2022
      • February Gallery 2022
      • March Gallery 2022
      • April Gallery 2022
      • May Gallery 2022
      • June Gallery 2022
      • July Gallery 2022
      • August Gallery 2022
      • September Gallery 2022
      • October Gallery 2022
      • November Gallery 2022
    • Archive 2021
      • January Gallery 2021
      • February Gallery 2021
      • March Gallery 2021
      • April Gallery 2021
      • May Gallery 2021
      • June Gallery 2021
      • July Gallery 2021
      • August Gallery 2021
      • September Gallery 2021
      • October Gallery 2021
      • November Gallery 2021
      • Best of 2021 Gallery
    • ARCHIVE 2020
      • January Gallery 2020
      • February Gallery 2020
      • March Gallery 2020
      • April Gallery 2020
      • May Gallery 2020
      • June Gallery 2020
      • July Gallery 2020
      • August Gallery 2020
      • September Gallery 2020
      • October Gallery 2020
      • November Gallery 2020
      • Best of 2020 Gallery
    • ARCHIVE 2019
      • April Gallery 2019
      • May Gallery 2019
      • June Gallery 2019
      • July Gallery 2019
      • August Gallery 2019
      • September Gallery 2019
      • October Gallery 2019
      • November Gallery 2019
  • GUEST GALLERIES
    • LIZ MURPHY – NUDIBRANCHS
    • BILL SHAMICK – TURTLES
    • NICK IVERS
    • KBSTRRC
    • MELANIE CHENEY
    • BRUCE LEANDER
    • RELEAF MICHIGAN
    • THE XERCES SOCIETY
    • ROCK HOLLOW WOODS
    • OCEAN DEFENDERS ALLIANCE
    • VERMONT INSTITUTE OF NATURAL SCIENCE
    • SYCAMORE LAND TRUST
    • CORA BERCHEM – SAVE THE MANATEE CLUB
    • BRUCE LEANDER – WILDFLOWER CENTER
    • ALEX NEUFELD – CRF
    • WARD 8 WOODS
  • BLOG
  • |
  • DONATE
  • STORE
  • CARDS
June 17, 2020  |  By admin

Q and A with Matthew Shepherd

Matthew Shepherd

What drove you to work with Xerces?

It was by chance that I ended up here. I was new in Oregon and was looking for work. I had an interview with the Nature Conservancy, and I didn’t get that job, but I was referred to Xerces Society. My passion for insects had led me to Kenya and England. The connections and overlaps and coincidences from my previous work helped land me the job with Xerces.

DONATE

You’ve been with the organization since 1999. How has it changed through the years?

I actually celebrated my 21st year with them a few weeks back. When I started there were five people. Two were part time. It was a much smaller organization. We didn’t have the established programs that we have now. It was much more project oriented. It's amazing what we had achieved up to that point. Most other organizations were focusing on macro fauna, and no one was focusing on insects. Now look at the work across the country that we are doing.


What’s your favorite aspect of Xerces Society?

The people. The people that I work with are incredible. I'm nerdy about insects. The people I work with are incredibly enthusiastic about insects.

I'm an insect nerd, and because of The Xerces Society I get to spend my time working with insects and it’s incredible. A lot of entomologist are working on pesticides and urban pest control. There aren’t a lot of careers in insect conservation, and Xerces has attracted a lot of great people because of that.

I love the variety of work. From pesticide advocacy to disappearing species protection to habitat creation, and now to communications and community engagement. The work continues to be incredibly varied. Getting to be able to work with many people across the organization and being able to share their knowledge with others is great. I get to continuously learn, which I enjoy.


What’s it like to work there?

The organization has transformed through the years. The work that we do has expanded vastly. With the way the organization has grown and changed. At the beginning every project involved everyone. Now there are 55 people with staff in 15 different states. The way we approach projects has changed. Now we have long term consistent conservation programs. Things like the pollinator conservation program and the pesticide reduction program. We are now moving into soil life as well. We work hard to bring the obscure insects into the limelight.


How can others get involved?

If you want to get involved with Xerces’ work join the community science programs. This varies across the country. In California there are hundreds of monarch sites across the state. There’s a volunteer program to go around the state to count the butterflies there. There are also bumble bee watches. It’s across the US and Canada, where people can take a photo and submit it through an app. This helps them build up a better picture of where bumble bees are at and what their reach is.

If people have a piece of land or a stoop with some planters, plant the right type of flowers for the pollinators in your area. That small step can be a big change. People can have a direct impact in their own life and in their own daily activities. We can be doing things in our backyard and in our own neighborhood to help the pollinators. We need to put the wildlife back into the habitat.


Where is your favorite place to see pollinators?

In my own neighborhood. I have seen over 30 species of bees in my own garden. There will occasionally even be a new species that I haven't seen before.


GUEST GALLERYDONATE
THE XERCES SOCIETY
guest pollinators xerces

Article by admin

Previous StoryHoneybee Infographic
Next StorySolitary Bee Home Infographic

Related Articles

  • Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Live
    Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
  • Melanie Cheney
    Q and A with Melanie Cheney

0 Comments

Leave your comment Cancel Reply

(will not be shared)

Donate

About

Matt Hamas and Ben Ivers here. We are focused on fostering a greater understanding and appreciation of the environment. We endeavor to bring you a unique perspective of the wild. Our photos are being placed here for you to enjoy. Please feel free to download any of the photos for your personal use. We are currently seeking partners for printing and developing photos.

  facebook twitter instagram

Categories

Tags

b&w backyard beach big bend bird black and white butterfly camouflage coral desert diving fish florida flower forest guest Hawaii hiking indiana insect kayaking lake landscape light macro maine mountain national park new hampshire ocean reef scuba spider sun sunrise sunset texas tree turtle underwater vermont water weather weird white mountains

WHO WE ARE

  • OUR TEAM
  • PRINTING PARTNERS
  • PARTNERS
  • CONTACT
  • STORE

WHAT WE DO

  • GALLERY
  • GET INVOLVED
  • BLOG
  • OUR MISSION

TRANSPARENCY

GuideStar Platinum Seal of Transparency

EIN: 83-3161428

ABOUT US

Matt Hamas and Ben Ivers here. We are focused on fostering a greater understanding and appreciation of the environment. We endeavor to bring you a unique perspective of the wild. Our photos are being placed here for you to enjoy. Please feel free to download any of the photos for your personal use. We are currently seeking partners for printing and developing photos.

FIND US ELSEWHERE

FacebookTwitterInstagram
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License