Doing good for bumble bees takes finding out what’s bad for them.
Sarah Scott, a doctoral student in the CFAES Department of Entomology, is studying how the fuzzy, buzzy, black-and-yellow pollinators get exposed to heavy metals in their environment—and what it can mean to their survival.
Supported by a highly competitive National Science Foundation graduate research fellowship, Scott hopes to contribute to what’s known about pollinator decline—the mysterious drop-off in bumble bees, honey bees, and other insect pollinators around the world, including in the United States and Ohio.
Scott’s goal, she says, is to “really understand how human factors affect pollinators, and where to best add habitat for them.” Her advisor is CFAES entomology professor Mary Gardiner.
To read more about Sarah and her research, and to help support student research, click here.