The 2026 Great Southeast Pollinator Census
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Updated: 17 hours ago
Join the count! The Great Southeast Pollinator Census is back and needs your to help to count and protect your local pollinators.
Who?
Anyone can join the census! Count in your garden at home with friends and neighbors. Count with your kids while teaching them about the importance of insects. Count in the park with your community. Count at Meeting Green in the pollinator section with our team!
What?
The Great Southeast Pollinator Census is a citizen project with three goals: to create a sustainable pollinator habitat, to increase the entomological literacy of citizens, and to generate useful data about the pollinator population.
When?
This year, the count is happening August 21st and 22nd!
Where?
You can count anywhere, but we recommend picking an area with lots of pollinator activity. Think park beds with lots of blooming flowers!
Why?
The census was born out of an idea from Project Coordinator, Becky Griffon, while she was working in community and school gardens. After two years of pilot projects, the first official census was conducted in Georgia in 2019. In the years following, it has grown to include much of the southeast with thousands of participants annually. Participants are helping collect important data being used in the classroom and for research across the southeast.
How to Count
Counting is easy! Simply pick a plant with pollinator activity and count how many times insects land on that plant over a 15 minute period. It doesn't matter if you counted the insect previously, we're tracking activity and visits not specific insects. You can download instructions, an identification guide, and a counting sheet here! Once you count, just upload your results here. You're done!
Some of our Favorite Pollinators Working Hard in August
Listen to our chat last year about the census with Amy Dabbs, the South Carolina census coordinator, here!
Comments