Virginia Scott is the Collections Manager of the Entomology Collections at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History. Her work with solitary wood-nesting bees began in 1983, in the meadows of Upper Michigan while observing a bee (Osmia lignaria) nicknamed R-2 for ten days straight. She continued with that study for a decade during which time she completed her Master’s Degree in Entomology at Michigan State University studying the biology of wood-nesting Hylaeus. In 1994, she moved to Colorado. She collected bees locally by trap-nesting during the summers of 1994 and 1996. Those specimens serve as the basis for The Bees’ Needs, which will hopefully inspire others to learn more about native bees. In 2011 she was lead author on The Bees of Colorado. When not working on bees (and sometimes while working on bees), she’s busy with her family. Contact her at TheBeesNeeds@colorado.edu

Research in Dr. Bowers' lab is focused on several themes concerning the interaction of insects with their environment and other organisms. She is especially interested in the chemical mediation of plant-insect-enemy interactions; but also in the effects of human alterations of the environment on these interactions. She and her students work in a variety of systems, including Lepidoptera and their host plants, predators and parasitoids; biofuel crops and bees; and insect immune responses to parasitoids and pathogens. She is also involved in research and citizen science related to native bee abundance and diversity. She serves as the curator of the Entomology section of the CU Museum of Natural History. More information about the research in the Bowers lab can be found at: http://www.bowerslab.org.

Dr. Carper's research focuses on how human-induced environmental change affects pollinators and subsequently the sustainability of pollination services. This spans a number of entomological and ecological disciplines, from community ecology to population and organismal biology. He uses a combination of approaches from these disciplines to explore patterns of pollinator diversity and the potential mechanisms that drive plant-pollinator interactions. To date, much of his work has focused on how land-use and management impact pollinator abundance and diversity, with implications for conservation in urban, agricultural, and natural systems. More recently he has begun to focus on strategies to promote native bee conservation and management, and has cooperated with multiple public agencies, the general public, and other academics to explore the role of management and education in native pollinator conservation. For more information go to: http://www.adriancarper.com/

I am a former graduate student in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department at the University of Colorado - Boulder who enjoys making data visualizations. My thesis work centered on how bees use habitat in rural agricultural areas, so investigating bees in urban areas with the Bees Needs was a natural next step. When I am not working with the Bees Needs, you can find me running around DC. I am also working on a project with the Systematic Entomology Laboratory and the Hymenoptera Section of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History to annotate images of insects.

Travis Bio