The Potomac Valley Audubon Society’s monthly program for October will feature a presentation on attracting pollinators to yards and gardens The program will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14 at the Hospice of the Panhandle facility in Kearneysville. Admission will be free and everyone is welcome to attend.

The speaker will be Steve Carroll, Director of Public Programs at the State Arboretum of Virginia and Blandy Experimental Farm in Boyce, VA. He will discuss the importance of pollinators, the threats they currently face, and steps property owners can take to help support their populations.

Pollinators provide crucial services in gardens, agriculture, and natural landscapes. Countless plants depend on pollinators to produce seeds and fruits, which are important food sources for birds, mammals, and other wildlife. They are also crucial for humans, as 30 percent of our food depends on pollinators.

Despite this, many pollinators are in trouble from habitat loss and degradation, use of pesticides, disease, and other threats.

Carroll is a botanist, ecologist, and gardener who speaks and writes frequently about plants and gardening. Before moving to the Arboretum, he taught ecology, botany, and evolutionary biology for 15 years at Truman State University, in Kirksville, MO. He is the co-author of “Ecology for Gardeners,” published by Timber Press, and he has written for gardening and outdoor publications.

Prior to Carroll’s presentation, there will be an informal informational open house about PVAS’s Potomac Valley Master Naturalist Program. The open house session will be held in the same room from 6:00-7:00 p.m. It will be intended to give people who are interested in becoming a Master Naturalist an opportunity to learn more about the process, and to ask questions about it.

The Hospice facility’s address is 330 Hospice Lane, Kearneysville. The Audubon events will be held in the main meeting room of the facility’s Main Office building.

There is plenty of parking at the facility.

For more information go to www.potomacaudubon.org or contact Krista Hawley at adultprograms@potomacaudubon.org or 703-303-1026.