Melanie Kirby

The Flower Path Conservancy & Zia Queenbees Farm & Field Institute. Melanie Margarita Kirby is a native New Mexican with Indo-Hispano (Mestiza: Tigua, Mescalero Apache, Spanish), Caribbean, and Scottish-Irish ancestry. Born and raised in southern New Mexico from Tortugas Pueblo, Melanie weaves her Indigenous perspectives into her work as an entomologist and conservationist. She has been keeping bees professionally for nearly three decades and as a land-less bee farmer, is grateful for the many land stewards she has been able to collaborate with by sharing bees and learning about diverse approaches to land management. Melanie is also a consilience researcher, educator, artist, and storyteller. She believes that the integration of diverse knowledge systems can support whole system reflection and mindful methodologies for supporting biodiversity conservation.Melanie is also a ceramicist and appreciates working with clay to create seed vessels, honey pots, and sculptures. She is the founder of the The Flower Path Conservancy, an Indigenous Matriarch led collective working collaboratively to support the establishment of seed sanctuaries and regeneration of habitats negatively affected by shifting climate crisis. She is also the founder of The Adaptive Bee Breeder Alliance which is a coast-to-coast network of bee producers and scientists researching and sharing methodologies and practices that support adaptive beekeeping for changing climes and times. Melanie serves on numerous boards that support healthy pollinators and landscapes, youth education and experiential learning, regenerative agriculture, and environmental stewardship. She is a National Geographic Explorer, a GRIST 50 Climate Fixer, and a recipient of the New Mexico Golden Chile award for outstanding leadership in land stewardship.