Meet the Foundress
Dr. Shannon Westlake
(she/her)
With 20 years of professional and research experience, Dr. Shannon Westlake has built a career at the intersection of science, systems, and restoration. Her early work began in the biological sciences, studying pollinator metamorphosis and amphibian populations, and evolved into a six-year tenure in the private technology sector, where she supervised a multi-million-dollar materials research laboratory. More recently, Dr. Westlake served as a founding team member and Social Science Lead for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Center for Pollinator Conservation.
This breadth of leadership across sectors, combined with over a decade of dedicated social-ecological research and application, has given Dr. Westlake a unique consilience of knowledge perspective. With a career grounded in leadership, innovation, and inclusive engagement, she brings people together to transform knowledge into meaningful action.
Today, she is the female founder (foundress) of The Positive Pollinator™, an ecosystem created to protect the protector by translating scientific insight into restorative practices for modern life. She is also the foundress and lead investigator of Nature’s Resilience Lab and Connected Clarity Consulting.
When she is not researching or creating, you will almost always find her with her girls either in a Support Team meeting or outside admiring trees while chasing pollinators.
Meet the Support Team
Ms. Hazel and Ms. Maple (four-legged members of the Foundress’ support system) are integral components of her well-being, and they serve as daily reminders that presence, connection, and harmony are essential parts of any resilient system.
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(she/her)
Lab Manager
Ms. Hazel is a curious and enthusiastic spirit who has an uncanny ability to sense when it’s time to pause. She oversees the Lab’s workload and provides regular, joyful interruptions. She champions well‑being by encouraging breaks for walks, snacks, and play.
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(she/her)
Studio Manager
Ms. Maple is a free spirit who lives comfortably outside the box. She oversees the Studio’s creative flow, comfort standards, and contemplative pauses. You can often find her checking in on the creative process from the most comfortable spot in the room.
Ecosystem Roots
For the past two decades, my work has been situated in various professional sectors and across scientific disciplines. I let my curiosity and love of learning guide the way, until I inevitably felt constrained in siloed or unsupportive systems. Recognizing this experience is not unique to me, I felt called to use a consilience of knowledge approach to develop a different way of building resilience. Rather than waiting decades to share this work, I thought it would be better to invite you into this liminal space with me as I continue my research and practice.
I welcome you to The Positive Pollinator™ ecosystem.
I created this ecosystem as a way to “protect the protector”, to help rebuild the resilience within the people who are dedicated to and responsible for taking care of others, be it a wildlife habitat, more-than-human species, community, or something else. Here, we let go of expectations and honor the messiness of the middle with the precision of shared learning to collectively fortify our resilience.
To achieve this, the ecosystem contains Nature’s Resilience Lab to bring a scientist’s precision and an artist’s soul to the study, embodiment, and sharing of natural resilience logic. Through my Nature-Based Solutions for the Soul (NBSS)™ methodology, I am translating the survival strategies of the wild into a new set of Specimen Protocols™ for modern life. The ecosystem also includes The Subterranean Studio, where I will share artwork created with the mantra of “let go and let flow,” to remind us that while not everything is in our control, we can still find beauty in the outcomes. In The Reference Library, you can explore the ways of knowing that contributed to my work.