Leslie Saul-Gershenz wears a few hats, but they all involve insects — especially bees. She’s not a beekeeper, though she is fond of the arthropods. She’s studied them for 25 years.

Saul-Gershenz, 70, of San Francisco, is a research scientist at UC Davis, where she earned her Ph.D. in entomology and nematology and taught undergrads about the natural history of insects. She serves as associate director of research of the Wild Energy Initiative at the John Muir Institute of the Environment and director of conservation and research at SaveNature.org in San Francisco. Saul-Gershenz’s work often takes her out into the field, where she can get up close and personal with ground-nesting native bees.

J.:  How did you become interested in the study of insects?

Leslie Saul-Gershenz: I was always interested in nature, even as a kid. I loved birds, flowers … I took entomology at 4-H camp. I loved science. I took a lot of science in college, but I also took a lot of art. Then I switched to biology and happened to take entomology, and that was it: It just clicked for me.

What is your focus at the UC Davis John Muir Institute?

I’m looking at how solar energy interfaces with wildlife in nature — particularly how ground-mounted solar impacts wildlife. That’s what I’ve been doing the last few years. Solar, as green energy, is very important, but there’s a vast difference between ground-mounted solar and distributed solar — solar on roofs. Ground-mounted has a large impact on wildlife when it’s in deserts: Unfortunately, the Bureau of Land Management has been [employing] that in California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico —  It’s not the best idea and has really impacted and fragmented a lot of wildlife habitat, and there are a lot of alternatives.

We hear a lot about bee colony die-off. What’s the current status of bees?

There are 20,000 species of bees in the world. A lot of people, when they think of bees, think only of honeybees. Colony collapse disorder is an issue for honeybees, which is a social species that lives in hives. But most bee species are solitary. Native bees are having issues as well. There are 2,000 species of native bees in California. Utility-scale solar development in the desert impacts native bees, and while all bees are impacted by the use of pesticides, native bees are much more impacted. Native bees are like us: Every female is reproductive. They dig their own burrows, lay their own eggs and provision each cell with nectar and pollen. They don’t have helpers. If she dies, that’s it.

Native bees don’t get as much money for study because only a handful are used in agriculture. There’s a very narrow focus. It’s a shortsighted vision. I got a grant this year to study the diversity of bees. We rely heavily on one species to pollinate our crops.

Do you have a favorite insect?

One of my favorite bees is the solitary bee Nomia melanderi, a ground-nesting bee. This species has attractive iridescent bands on its abdomen. Habropoda pallida was my first bee and one of my other favorites — that’s what I studied for my master’s and Ph.D.

How can people attract bees to their garden?

The more native plants you have, generally the more native insects and birds.

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What botanical gardens do you like to visit?

San Francisco Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park, UC Davis botanical garden on campus and the botanic garden at Tilden [Regional] Park. When I travel, I search out botanical gardens; they’re my favorite spots to go.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Westbury, Long Island,  but we spent every weekend in Brooklyn. That’s where all my family was. I came out here to go to college, and I never went back.

Was your family religious?

My parents grew up in a Jewish orphanage. Both their fathers had died when they were children. They didn’t have much of a Jewish upbringing because they didn’t grow up in a home. We were Reform Jewish. I went to Sunday school at the temple. My best friend was kosher and had a more formal Jewish upbringing. I spent most afternoons after school in her household. Sometimes I would go to her Sunday school after mine. Her rabbi was funny. He had a way about him.