Across North Carolina, the local N.C. Cooperative Extension Center is the go-to resource for gardening advice. Most offices are supported by NC State Extension Master Gardener℠ volunteers, experts in how to develop a green thumb.

The NC State Extension Master Gardener program is a network of 4,000-plus volunteers who are passionate about growing things and eager to dispense reliable, research-based information to people in their communities. All have completed a 40-hour training program, passed an exam, and interned under an NC State Extension agent for at least 40 hours.

Extension Master Gardener volunteers are always looking for ways to level up their impact, to become more knowledgeable and more efficient in helping meet horticulture needs. When they were asked last year how they could make more of a difference for the people of North Carolina, they overwhelmingly said they wanted to know more about pollinator conservation.

“We conducted a survey to determine what could be done to better support the work of our volunteers,” said Charlotte Glen, NC State Extension Master Gardener program manager. “We asked, what are the topics that are most important in your county that can make a difference through consumer horticulture education? And pollinator conservation was number one.”

In response, this year’s Extension Master Gardener College was tailored to the issue.

“The pollinator ambassador curriculum is just perfectly timed,” said Amanda Bratcher, horticulture agent at the Extension center in Lee County and coordinator of the Great Southeast Pollinator Census in North Carolina. “There is a lot of interest in pollinators and pollinator gardening right now. It's a great way to encapsulate all that knowledge in a very practical way.”

Extension Master Gardener (EMG) College is a biennial continuing education event for volunteers, taught by Extension professionals.

“EMG College goes a little deeper into topics and continues to build their knowledge, so they're better equipped and prepared to apply it in their counties through their volunteer service with Extension,” Glen said.

The interest in pollinator conservation is understandable. Pollinators — primarily bees but also beetles, butterflies, moths, flies, wasps and hummingbirds — are necessary for much of North Carolina’s agriculture and horticulture.

Related: Unusual pollinators of North Carolina

“Pollinators are critical to home vegetable gardeners as well as agricultural-scale production,” Glen said. “But also the survival of the majority of plants on earth requires pollination. Plants clean the air, they clean the water, they provide food and nesting habitat for all the other critters that are part of our ecosystems. We need plants to support our healthy life, our survival on earth.”

Pollination is the movement of pollen from the male part of a plant to the female part specifically for the purpose of plant reproduction and seed creation. Three-quarters of the world's flowering plants and crops that make up 35% of global food production rely at least in part on animal pollination. Many fruits, nuts and vegetables are pollinator-reliant crops.

“I love strawberries and apples and bananas, and we definitely need pollinators to help with that,” Bratcher said. “There's also thousands and thousands of other plants that we don’t eat but that still need animal pollinators. If it weren't for pollination it'd be very different, and not in a good way for humans.”

But pollinators are facing many difficulties, including a changing ecosystem.

“Changes to the climate and weather patterns and how it affects the emergence of plants and insects can be very challenging,” Bratcher said. “Habitat loss is also a very timely issue here in North Carolina. We have challenges with pollution. Overuse and improper use of pesticides can negatively impact not just bees but other pollinators and organisms in the environment. And then there’s parasites, invasive species and diseases.”

Bratcher was the lead instructor for EMG College, passing on her knowledge and enthusiasm for the topic. She and other Extension experts emphasized the critical role of pollinators and gave practical strategies for creating and managing habitat.

“We want the volunteers to grow their knowledge and skills and to feel confident and empowered to deliver education on these topics in their counties,” Glen said. “Ultimately we want them to reach more people with this information, which will lead to more high quality pollinator habitats being planted and maintained in community gardens, home gardens and public landscapes.”

One way the EMG College graduates can put their knowledge to use is by participating in the Great Southeast Pollinator Census, which takes place Aug. 21-22.

The census is an Extension-led effort in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina. School groups, gardeners, families and individuals are encouraged to become community scientists and join the annual effort to help track pollinator health and population trends.

The objectives are to inspire people to create sustainable pollinator habitats, to increase participants’ interest in and knowledge about pollinators, and to collect data about the number and variety of pollinators and the flowers that attract them.

The pollinator count originated in Georgia in 2017. This is the fourth year North Carolina will be involved. Participation has increased each year, from just over 1,000 counts in 2023 to more than 5,000 in 92 counties in 2025. Over the three years, 98 counties have submitted data.

“This year our goal is to have more than 10,000 counts and to have counts in all 100 counties,” Bratcher said. “Whether rural, suburban or urban, we have good participation across the state. That just shows how accessible and successful the program is and how people in North Carolina care about pollinators and think they're important.”

Participants are asked to observe a flower for 15 minutes at any time over the two days and count the pollinator visits.

“One of the things that has been so rewarding is to see those light bulbs start coming on with the general public,” Bratcher said. “Over and over, people say they never realized how many different kinds of insects there were. Many people say they felt so much more connected to nature just by sitting for 15 minutes and watching one plant. That's the serendipity of taking that moment and then realizing that there's this whole other world that we were living in.”

At organized events, Master Gardener volunteers are on hand to answer questions, including how to tell a pollinator from a non-pollinator.

“It 100% aligns with our mission,” Glen said. “We've got Master Gardener volunteers in most counties across the state so it is an ideal fit for them. We've really been encouraging them to not only participate, but encourage other people to participate — hold educational events and counting events on the census dates.”

This year’s No. 1 topic for Master Gardener volunteers will likely continue to be top of mind for the foreseeable future. The challenges facing pollinators, and their importance to our ecosystems, aren’t going away.

That’s why EMG College, normally a biennial event, will return in 2027 with the same curriculum. It’s why after this year’s pollinator census, Bratcher will soon be thinking about the next one.

“Master Gardener volunteers have been providing education outreach on pollinator conservation for several years,” Glen said. “They recognize the importance of the topic and have been doing great work in their counties, including the pollinator census, holding plant sales focused on pollinator-friendly plants, and classes and outreach on pollinator health and conservation.

“This isn't the beginning of something; this is an ongoing recognition of something that is important. The ultimate goal is to protect pollinators, provide more habitat for them, increase their populations, and overcome or mitigate some of those challenges they're facing.”