About Mass Pollinator Network

OUR MISSION

Native pollinators face many challenges, from habitat loss to pesticides, but there is a groundswell of public interest in protecting their populations and the ecosystem services they provide. The mission of the Massachusetts Pollinator Network (MAPN) is to expand pollinator habitat and reduce the use of pesticides through the creation of a statewide network that connects and supports the growing number of individuals, communities, organizations, and research groups working to protect pollination systems across the Commonwealth. 

TOWARD THESE BROADER OBJECTIVES MAPN WILL:
  • Strengthen existing partnerships and facilitate new collaborations to accomplish shared goals
  • Provide the public, including activists and advocates, with the resources they need to succeed in their efforts
  • Promote native plants, especially those needed by at-risk native pollinators
  • Work with professionals in plant cultivation, landscaping, and nurseries to increase the availability of native plants
  • Advocate for local, state, and national policy reforms that protect and enhance biodiversity, including critical pesticide reform legislation
  • Engage in public education and outreach to raise awareness about the individual and collective actions that will promote healthy and diverse pollinator populations
  • Work together to protect and expand pollinator habitats and reduce the use of biocides in landscapes across the Commonwealth

OUR HISTORY

In 2016, Peggy MacLeod was inspired by a “Pollinator Friendly Habitat” sign on a chance visit to a native plant garden in Asheville, NC. Peggy returned to Northampton and joined forces with Amy Pulley to start the Western Massachusetts Pollinator Network. Eighteen enthusiastic pollinator advocates contributed a spontaneous flow of ideas and actions at the first meeting, and the organization was born.  

This blossomed into a robust local movement that built connected pollinator habitat, yard by yard and community by community, including seven municipal “anchor” plantings as the core of a city-wide pollinator pathway. They also organized a sustainable landscaping symposium, for municipal and university personnel. 

As the organization grew, and requests for information increased from all over Massachusetts, they realized they needed more resources than a solely-volunteer organization can provide. In June 2021, WMAPN partnered with the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA/Mass) and relaunched as the Massachusetts Pollinator Network (MAPN). A professional Coordinator position was created and the network expanded its reach to all of Massachusetts.

In 2025, MAPN joined Grow Native Massachusetts where it continues to grow its reach.

OUR TEAM

Our program is led by our coordinator, Renée Scott. She hosts programs, creates the newsletter, manages our google group, answers emails, and more!

We have a seven person steering committee who, in addition to providing guidance on programming and strategic goals, table at events, give talks and presentations on our work, and attend MAPN events to share their expertise.

We also have an advisory board comprised of community leaders and professional conservationists and land managers from across the state.

Our steering committee members are:

– Amy Meltzer, Co-Chair, Mass Pollinator Network; Elders Climate Action Research Team (MA Chapter)
– Anna Hanchett, Chair of the Plainfield Agricultural Commission; Plainfield Tree Alliance
– Brucie Moulton, Sustainable Arlington; Mystic Charles Pollinator Pathways
– David Morgan, Environmental Planner for the Town of Arlington
– Heidi Dollard, Co-Chair, Mass Pollinator Network; Western Massachusetts Master Gardener
– Kim DeAndrade, Medford Trees; Mystic Charles Pollinator Pathways

– Shannon Phelan, Grafton Land Trust, Sustainable Grafton, Town of Grafton Open Space and Recreation Committee
– Vivian Orlowski, Great Barrington Agricultural Commission; Housatonic Heritage Operation Pollination 

Our Advisory Board members are:

– Amy Pulley, Principal, Wing and a Prayer Nursery
– Anne O’Connor, Bee Friendly Williamstown
– Charlie Wyman, Lexington Living Landscapes
– Cynthia Grippaldi, Berkshire Conservation District
– Dan Jaffe Wilder, Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary
– Elizabeth Erickson, Greening Greenfield
– Ellen Anderson, Petersham Pollinator Protection Campaign
– Evan Abramson, Principal, Landscape Interactions
– Gary Bowden, Pollinator Pathways Cape Cod
– Larri Cochran, Board of Directors Western Massachusetts Master Gardener Association; Northampton Community Garden Committee
– Nicole Marcotte, Mass Audubon Conservation Restriction Stewardship Specialist
– Peggy MacLeod, Co-Founder, Western Mass Pollinator Network
– Rosemary Malfi, Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

ORGANIZATIONS IN OUR NETWORK

See our list of groups and conservation organizations across the Commonwealth working to support pollinators and native plants. For legislation relating to pollinators and native plants across the state, please see our legislative page. Please check out our native plant nursery spreadsheet. If you would like to add your group, pollinator policy, or native plant nursery to our lists, please email us!

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