Mary Robinson - Outside Reading Reflection 1

I really enjoyed Brooke’s presentation about her short film that highlighted bees. I never knew the difference between native bees and honey bees, so it was interesting to learn the different roles they play. I really didn’t have a lot of background knowledge on bees, so most of the information was entirely new to me. I figured that honey bees were not native to the United States since they weren’t considered a “native” bee, but I didn’t think about the correlation to crops being the reason they were brought to the country, since certain crops are cultivated by honey bees. Something else that really stood out to me was the difference in behaviors and community systems between honey bees and native bees. I was surprised to learn that honey bees are the only bees that live in hives, and native bees live alone or in solitary units. Honey bees’ method of relocating is also interesting as it involves pretty complex behavior. Learning about Brooke’s process that led her to where she is at today was inspiring. As a student that wants to go into a career related to the environment and conservation and who is not an environmental science/studies major or even receiving a bachelor of science, I loved hearing that Brooke is able to do things in that field without an undergrad degree specifically in that area of study. It really eased my concerns that I may not be able to do anything in that kind of field. Brooke’s obvious passion and determination was encouraging.