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Pollinator Champion Jamie Beyer for Spencer Award </h1> <div class="block block-system block-main block-system-main odd block-without-title" id="block-system-main"> <div class="block-inner clearfix"> <div class="content clearfix"> <article about="/leopold-center-selects-pollinator-champion-jamie-beyer-spencer-award" typeof="sioc:Item foaf:Document" class="node node-news node-published node-not-promoted node-not-sticky author-181 odd clearfix" id="node-news-13534"> <span property="dc:title" content="Leopold Center Selects Pollinator Champion Jamie Beyer for Spencer Award " class="rdf-meta element-hidden"></span> <footer class="submitted"><span property="dc:date dc:created" content="2024-07-15T10:45:17-05:00" datatype="xsd:dateTime" rel="sioc:has_creator"><em class="placeholder">July 15, 2024</em></span></footer> <div class="content clearfix"> <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p><img alt="Two men outdoors holding award plaque. One on left wearing blue jacket, on right, wearing reddish shirt and sunglasses" src="https://www.leopold.iastate.edu/files/resize/news/images/spencer_award_pic_jamiebeyer_2024_web_0-400x300.jpg" style="height:300px; margin:5px; width:400px" title="Jamie Beyer (left) receiving Spencer Award from Leopold Center Interim Director Stephen Dinsmore. " width="400" height="300" /><br /> <em>Jamie Beyer (left) receiving Spencer Award from Leopold Center Interim Director Stephen Dinsmore.</em></p> <p>AMES, Iowa – Jamie Beyer, an advocate for bees and conservation, has been selected as the 2024 winner of the Spencer Award, presented by the <a href="https://www.leopold.iastate.edu/">Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture</a> at Iowa State University. This year's award presentation is planned for the annual meeting of the Conservation Districts of Iowa, Aug. 19, in Ames. Read <a href="https://www.leopold.iastate.edu/files/news/files/spencer_award2024_jamiebeyer_pp_talk_awardpresentation.pdf">Beyer's comments</a> upon receiving the Spencer Award.  </p> <p>The prestigious Spencer Award recognizes farmers, researchers, teachers or other individuals who have contributed significantly to the environmental and economic stability of Iowa agriculture and farming communities.  </p> <p>Beyer, who became interested in beekeeping a decade ago, is a regular speaker and writer on the value of honey bees and native bees. (Honey bees are not native to Iowa, but are thought to have arrived with early European settlers.) He has been president of the <a href="https://www.centraliowabeekeepersassoc.org/">Central Iowa Beekeepers Association</a> since 2019 and is active in the <a href="https://www.iowahoneyproducers.org/">Iowa Honey Producers Association</a>, for which he coordinates an annual Honey Bee Day at the Iowa Capitol to showcase to legislators the value of bees and other pollinators and policies that are needed to protect them. He is also involved in other conservation activities, including a newly organized South Ames Ecological Alliance.</p> <p>“On behalf of the Leopold Center, I am very pleased to be able to recognize Jamie Beyer’s significant contributions to advocate for the importance of bees and pollinators generally, supporting the long-term sustainability of Iowa’s agriculture and economy,” said Stephen J. Dinsmore, interim director of the Leopold Center.</p> <p><strong>A gateway insect</strong></p> <p>Beyer has a bachelor’s degree in fisheries and wildlife biology and a master’s degree in wildlife biology from Iowa State. He has been an active alum, serving as a guest lecturer for horticulture and entomology classes and helping professors and graduate students connect with landowners and beekeepers to answer research questions and raise grant funding.</p> <p>“Jamie Beyer works tirelessly to promote healthy hives and the joy of beekeeping across the state,” said Randall Paul Cass, bee specialist for Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, one of Beyer’s nominators for the award. “He is an early adopter of management practices for bee health and a staunch supporter of Iowa State research and bee programming.”</p> <p>Honey bees are what some entomologists call a “gateway” insect that can expand interest to other insects and pollinators, according to Beyer.</p> <p>“One of the reasons is because honey bees have economic value,” he said. “They are really a type of ‘livestock’ for a growing number of farmers and landowners. They are also just an amazing feat of nature. When people become educated about bees and the threats they face, they often also become advocates for our native bees and other insects and pollinators so important to our ecosystem.”   </p> <p>To this end, one of his current projects is developing a youth education program for Iowa schools sponsored by the Central Iowa Beekeepers Association. He plans to use the check that comes with the Spencer Award as seed money for educational materials to help launch the program.</p> <p>Linn Wilbur, a veterinarian and longtime leader among Iowa beekeepers, has been an important mentor to Beyer. Wilbur and Beyer have worked together on many projects, including with the national <a href="https://honeybeehealthcoalition.org/">Honey Bee Health Coalition</a>.</p> <p>“More than a third of the economically important crops across the U.S. are dependent on pollinators for production and honey bees are a major contributor for that pollination,” Wilbur said. “Jamie’s efforts have advanced the recognition and importance of honey bees and other pollinators to farmers, the farming industry and the public. He emphasizes the need for stewardship of these insects and how that stewardship assists farmers and the public in preserving and enhancing our ecosystem.”</p> <p><strong>Listening to nature</strong></p> <p>Beyer grew up on a small farm near Jefferson and credits his parents for encouraging his interests in the natural world. He and his dad built a canoe that they often took on the Raccoon River, paddling and listening to nature. Inspired by his ninth grade science teacher, Beyer raised many varieties of tropical fish in an array of tanks, moving many of them outdoors during the summer. That hobby eventually turned into a career: Midwest Waterscapes, a business to help landowners develop water gardens and ponds. Semi-retired, Beyers still serves as a water garden consultant and contributes regularly to Pond Trade magazine.</p> <p>Beyer lives near Boone with his partner, Danise Warriner, on 80 acres that include many water features. He maintains approximately 50 honey bee hives between their home and Ames. </p> <p>In a letter supporting Beyer’s Spencer-award nomination, Matthew O’Neal, professor of plant pathology, entomology and microbiology, and a Wallace Chair for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State, wrote, “Jamie Beyer has been a voice for the community of beekeepers, providing leadership, training to newcomers and outreach to many audiences, but Jamie is more than a beekeeper. His awareness of the multiple ways in which agriculture and our landscape interact to impact the health of natural and human communities has made him an effective advocate for sustainable agriculture in its many forms.”</p> <p>The <a href="https://www.leopold.iastate.edu/spencer-award">Spencer Award</a> honors Norman and Margaretha Spencer, who farmed in Woodbury County for 40 years. Graduates of Iowa State, the Spencers maintained an active relationship with the university and several professors who encouraged them to conduct research on sustainable practices and family farming. The Spencer family established the award in 2001 through an endowment that provides a cash prize for each winner.</p> <p>The <a href="http://www.leopold.iastate.edu">Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture</a> was created at Iowa State in 1987 as a research and education center to support profitable farming that conserves natural resources.  </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> </div></div></div> </div> <div class="clearfix"> <nav class="links node-links clearfix"></nav> </div> </article> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div></section> <footer id="section-footer" class="section section-footer"> <div id="zone-footer-wrapper" class="zone-wrapper zone-footer-wrapper clearfix"> <div id="zone-footer" class="zone zone-footer clearfix container-12"> <div class="grid-12 region region-footer-first" id="region-footer-first"> <div class="region-inner region-footer-first-inner"> <div class="block block-block block-1 block-block-1 odd block-without-title" id="block-block-1"> <div class="block-inner clearfix"> <div class="content clearfix"> <p>Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture<br /> 339 Science Hall II<br /> Iowa State University<br /> Ames, IA 50011<br /> (515) 294-1739    <br /> <a href="mailto:leocenter@iastate.edu">leocenter@iastate.edu</a><br /> <a href="https://www.leopold.iastate.edu/about/leopold-center#contributions">Donate</a></p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div></footer> </div> <div class="region region-page-bottom" id="region-page-bottom"> <div class="region-inner region-page-bottom-inner"> </div> </div> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://www.leopold.iastate.edu/sites/all/modules/luggage/luggage_announcements/js/flexslider.load.js?sl5ur5"></script>  </body> </html>