Tabor Academy is inviting the public to the first event in its Science at Work Lecture Series.

Dr. Gretchen LeBuhn, professor of biology at San Francisco State University, will speak on Oct. 12 at 6:30 p.m. in Lyndon South Auditorium in the Stroud Academic Center at 232 Front St.

LeBuhn is a widely published scientist on the topic of conservation biology and has a special interest in the plight of North American bees. She has lectured internationally, including at the White House.

Her lecture at Tabor will be focused on citizen science, which is scientific research conducted in whole or in part by amateur scientists. Over the past five years, the field of citizen science has exploded and citizen scientists can be found doing research on everything from galaxies to disease. LeBuhn leads the largest international citizen science project on pollinators in the world and is a leading scientist the field.

On Oct. 12, she will talk about the role of citizen science in biodiversity research and what makes these programs successful. Through her work, LeBuhn designed a monitoring system to assess bee diversity that is being used in seven countries.

All are welcome to learn about the plight of the bees and to how they can help to hopefully reverse their declining populations.