OFFICERS AND BOARD

Bret Adee is a third-generation commercial beekeeper based in Bruce, South Dakota.  Along with his family, Bret runs Adee Honey Farms, which is one of the largest beekeeping operations in the country, producing honey and offering pollination services. 

Bret is a founding member of the PSC and served as board president from 2014 to 2020.  He has also served on the National Honey Bee Advisory Board, was a founding member of the Pollinator Defense Fund, was the secretary treasurer for the South Dakota Beekeepers Association, and served as Region 3 Alternate for the National Honey Board. 

Beth Conrey has a Master of Business Administration from the University of New Mexico.  She owns Bee Squared Apiaries—a 120 colony beekeeping operation in Berthoud, Colorado.  She produces award winning varietal and infused honey, as well as beautiful hand-rolled beeswax candles and luscious soaps.

Beth has been keeping bees for 20 years and is past-president of the Western Apicultural Society and the Colorado State Beekeepers Association.  She currently serves as vice-president and treasurer for the Pollinator Stewardship Council and is a founding member of People and Pollinators Action Network.  She is very active in the Northern Colorado beekeeping community.

For over 40 years, Steve has managed Old Mill Honey Company, a commercial beekeeping business of 2,300 hives, located in Barrett Minnesota.  From 2019-2005, Steve worked with beekeepers in Minnesota on legal action against the State of Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and International Paper Co. for a spray program related to the US Department of Energy hybrid poplar tree plantations and their use of Sevin XLR Plus insecticide.  The State Supreme court ruled in their favor.

In 2009, Steve was appointed by the American Honey Producers Association to represent them in discussions with Bayer Crop Science.  He has also served as secretary for the National Honey Bee Advisory Board and was appointed by the Governor of Minnesota to serve on the Governor’s Pollinator Protection Committee as a representative of commercial beekeepers. 

David Hackenberg began keeping bees as a FFA project in 1962 in high school.  By the time he had graduated, he had already started his own business maintaining several hundred hives. Over time he had built his business to include 3,000 bee colonies, but in November 2006, David lost 80% of his hives due to CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder).  David is credited with the discovery of CCD.  He and his son now run Hackenberg Apiaries with 1,500 active bee colonies.

After serving as president of the Pennsylvania State Beekeepers Association, the American Beekeeping Federation, and as a member of the National Honey Board, David presently holds the position of co-chairman of the Honeybee Health Advisory Board.

Julia Mahood is a Georgia Master Beekeeper who has been keeping bees since 2004.  She is a past president of the Metro Atlanta Beekeepers Association and is active in the Georgia Beekeepers Association.  She teaches beekeeping at the largest women’s prison in Georgia, and advocates for other prison beekeeping programs in the state.  She was named the Georgia Beekeeper of the Year in 2018.

Julia started www.mapmydca.com, a citizen science project that shows people how to find drone congregation areas and post them on a public map.  A graphic artist, Julia designed the Georgia Save the Honey Bee license plate.

Bob McDonell has been a beekeeper for 40 years.  He is an active member of many bee organizations including Cook-DuPage Beekeepers, Fox Valley Beekeepers, and the Illinois State Beekeepers Association.  In addition, he is a member of some national groups including the American Beekeeping Federation and the Eastern Apicultural Society.  He enjoys speaking opportunities at elementary schools, church groups, civic clubs and environmental groups.

Richard Coy is a third-generation commercial beekeeper managing a family business located in the Mississippi Gulf Coast region. Coy’s Honey Farm has grown from a small hobby project in the 1960s to a large-scale operation with  over 10,000 hives.  They offer pollination services across the US, with the bees spending parts of the year in California and the Midwest as well as in their home state of Mississippi. In addition to honey production and pollination, Richard’s farm propagates bees for market, offering  5 frame nucs and queens. They are a member of the Russian Honeybee Breeders Association and one of the largest distributors of Russian bees in the US. 

Richard enjoys speaking engagements at apiary clubs and is a past president of the Arkansas Beekeepers Association.  He is also a member of the Sioux Honey Association as well as the American Honey Producers Association.  

Since 1981, Stephen has maintained between eight to 16 colonies of bees, collecting swarms, managing honey harvest, and selling raw honey.  He previously assisted a Master Beekeeper in hive management and pollination services for four years.  His volunteer work includes being a member of the NYS Apiary Industry Advisory Committee, serving as chairman from 2004-2016.  He was also involved in obtaining stable funding for the New York State Honey Bee Inspection Program and honey bee health research at Cornell-CALS.

Stephen is a member of the Eastern Apiculture Society, the Southern Adirondack Beekeepers Association, and the Empire State Honey Producers Association.  He has also served on the New York Governor’s Pollinator Protection Action Plan Task Force.

Jennifer Bryan-Goforth joined PSC as Program Director in 2021.  She has been involved in food access and environmental stewardship for many years in the Pacific Northwest. A longtime organic grower, her farm works to support food sovereignty and resiliency through their seed distro program in which 10,000 packages of open pollinated seed are grown and distributed at no charge each year to food banks, schools, and community garden projects. She comes to PSC with experience as a non-profit executive director and in post-secondary education, mostly related to sustainability and food systems.  As a lifelong environmental steward, she is thrilled to have the opportunity to support the critical work of the Pollinator Stewardship council. 

Erin Rupp is founder and Executive Director of Pollinate Minnesota and has been a hobby beekeeper since 2007. Pollinate Minnesota’s standards-based classes connect students directly to live bees and Erin has taught over 35,000 people since 2015, many of them in beekeeping suits, working a honey bee hive with her. Pollinator decline is an extremely relevant science, policy, and media story and connects directly to interdisciplinary K12 STEAM lessons, not to mention social emotional learning, civic engagement, and service-learning opportunities for youth.   

Erin began direct advocacy work in 2013, helping to lead a citizen group that resulted in two new pollinator laws in 2014 in MN, which in many ways catalyzed Minnesota’s current national pollinator policy leadership. She continues advocacy work at the state and municipality level. She served on MN Governor Dayton’s Committee for Pollinator Protection.

Bio Coming Soon