Clancy Lester (he/him)

Clancy is a self-acknowledged Steve Irwin and David Attenborough fan. He grew up on the fertile lands of the Yorta-Yorta nation in regional Victoria, before venturing to the big city to undertake a Master of Bioscience.

Clancy’s research project is by, with and for the Yolngu people of North-East Arnhem Land, where he is investigating if increased temperatures are having an impact on the native stingless bees ability to make honey. His research is of importance to the lifestyle and culture of the Yolngu people, as native bees appear throughout songlines, ceremonies and their overall livelihoods through harvesting the honey known as ‘guku’.

Through the Wattle Fellowship, Clancy hopes to tackle this conservation in and around Melbourne. He plans to construct and distribute native bee hotels through workshops and online educational tutorials, and materials which can be found at nativebeehotels.com. Clancy’s goals are to boost the diversity and abundance of the native bee species in urban environments across Victoria.

Outside of Clancy’s studies and research endeavours, he lives and breathes AFL, being a proud Western Bulldogs fan and plays for the Numurkah Blues.