Presentations

Biodiversity & Diversity in Bio: What’s the Point? (50 minutes)

Is there such a thing as "diversity for diversity's sake" or is diversity a metric worth pursuing consistently? It turns out that the answer to that question is the same regardless of whether you're discussing biology or biologists. In this presentation, you'll get a better understanding of why ecosystems thrive with diversity, why human systems follow the same pattern, and what the major barriers are to achieving diversity in natural and man-made contexts.

Pollinator Pandemic: What Covid-19 can Teach Us About Managing our Ongoing Honey Bee Pandemic (50 minutes)

A pandemic shutdown society worldwide, dramatically decrased productivity, and forced distancing of super social creatures. It may surprise you to find that I’m not talking about Covid-19 but the pandemic of parasitic mites that our honey bees have been dealing with for years. Their pandemic has shocking similarities with our own and their success is critical to our current way of life. Find out what beekeepers and any concerned citizen can do to turn things around for our pollinator partners.

Invasive Species: The Vexing Reality of Our Global Ecosystem (50 minutes)

Asian Giant Hornets, Zebra Mussels, Fire Ants, Giant Snails, Death Mushrooms, Parasitic Bee mites, Feral Pigs, Snakehead fish and Asian Stinkbugs! A host of organisms now call our ecosystem home and we're just beginning to realize the broader impacts. Further, North America has exported some nuisances of our own to rest of the world. Herein I'll discuss what makes a species likely to invade, profiling invaders as unlikely as the African Hippo and abandoned toads once used as pregnancy tests. Further, we’ll discuss ongoing issues with the famed Asian Giant Hornets and the prolific Zebra Mussel. And I'll detail what we can do individually and on the policy level to prevent the establishment of additional non-native organisms or to eradicate them altogether in the aftermath of their introduction.

Our Invasive Species Trade Deficit: Why We Get More Species Than We Give (50 minutes)

You’ve probably heard about Giant Hornets from Asia (“Murder Hornets”) invading the Pacific Northwest or invasive pythons in the Everglades and you might have thought, “I wonder how many nuisance species we’ve given to the rest of the world”. Well the answer is “surprisingly few”! In this presentation, I’ll explain why the Americas are more poised to accept invasive species than to give them. But when we do give them, in characteristic American style, there’s always a fascinating story! I’m looking forward to telling you all about the worldwide ecological impact of Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles, American racoons escaping from Asian coffee houses, and literal beavers in parachutes setting up shop quite a long way from home!

Weird Wingless Flies: Why It Was Smart for Some Flies to Ditch Flight (45 minutes)

Being a flying fly is clearly the only way to be right? Wrong! Some flies have ditched what seems like such a clear advantage for a totally different, and totally fascinating lifecycle. The Sheep Keds, Bat Flies, and Bee Lice have their own little world and today, I'll be your tour guide as we venture through it!

Varroa Management: How Mites Should be Treated (50 minutes)

Do you want to treat for Varroa but can’t figure out what treatment method is right for you? Well, have I got the presentation for you! Hear the how, when, why and what of Varroa treatment.

Varroa Anatomy: Why it Matters to Your Bees (50 minutes)

Varroa are well-adapted to being parasites of honey bees. Some of their most fascinating adaptations are difficult to see with the naked eye but with the help of the USDA Bee Lab and the Electron Microscopy Unit, you can see the mites from the bee’s perspective and learn why they’re so adept at being so destructive.

Drivers of Honey Bee Colony Losses: What the Data Actually Say (45 minutes)

For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong (H. L. Mencken). This sentiment is clearly evinced in the complex issue of heightened honey bee colony losses. While the data do not present a singular culprit, they do show how the interconnected web of natural and man-made stress factors have negatively impacted honey bee populations. These data further imply that there are actions we can undertake to help the bees.

Varroa After the Fat: Current Research Endeavors to Fight the Mite (50 minutes)

Varroa feed on honey bee fat body, not hemolymph. But what's happened since that discovery? What have we done to make that information more than just interesting trivia? Well, it turns out that knowing what the mites are eating is information that can be used against them. At the USDA Bee Research Laboratory we're working on figuring out precisely how these findings can be weaponized against the greatest global pest of bees.

Murder Hornets: The Battle Begins (50 minutes)

Having grabbed the attention and morbid curiosity of the general public Vespa mandarinia, or the Asian Giant Hornet, is now a household name. Most know them by the moniker “Murder Hornet” and while that name is overly sensational it could be integral in our fight against this invading pest as the research community capitalizes on this unprecedented interest to educate the general public on how we can stop it.

The Honey Bee Landlord: Why Everything Wants to Live in Your Hive (50 minutes)

Ever wondered why so many creatures risk life and limb to live with a bunch of stinging insects that don't want them there? What's so alluring about living inside a honey bee hive and how have other creatures been able to dupe insects as smart as the honey bees into letting them stay?

Fight the Mite Thailand Edition: Understanding the Mysterious Tropilaelaps Mite (1 hour)

Tropilaelaps mercedesae is among the most concerning threats to our bees but continues to be one of the least studied. The Fight the Mite Initiative was established to proactively better our understanding of this creature without waiting for it to arrive in the US first. Funded largely by the beekeeping community, Dr. Ramsey has been researching the behavior, lifecycle, and vulnerabilities of the Tropilaelaps to chemical and non-chemical treatment measures. Though the project was ended abruptly as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, this presentation will detail discoveries and data collected to this point and the need for continued study.

Department of Privilege (1 hour)

According to data from the National Science Foundation, only 1 person in the entirety of the US earned a PhD in Entomology in the year 2017. In a presentation first delivered to the National Geographic Society, learn what it’s like to be the one.

SciComm 101: How to Give a Great Talk (1 hour)

Effectively communicating complex science to an unspecialized audience can seem like a tall order! You've got to get the information out accurately and succinctly without losing people. But like the rest of the characteristics of a good researcher, it's a skillet that can be learned and refined. So here's a crash course based on what I've learned in my own adventures in SciComm.

Varroa destructor Feeds on Bee Blood and Two Other Alternative Facts (1 hour)

Varroa destructor feeds exclusively on the hemolymph (or blood) of immature bees". It's considered to be such an obvious fact that it often goes without citation now in scientific papers. But there is very little if any experimental support for this universally accepted conclusion. My thesis work, in partnership with the USDA and Project Apis m, has shown that Varroa are actually feeding on a very different tissue, the fat body, leading to a diverse combination of health impacts that have never been fully explained by feeding on hemolymph alone. With a better understanding of how this parasite impacts its host, we can develop novel forms of control and new methods to remediate the health issues common to infected colonies.

Pollinators: Understaffed, Underpaid, and Underappreciated (50 minutes)

Honey bees seem to attract the spotlight but our pollinators in general are in a bind. We aren't helpless though. Everyone has the capacity to be a huge help to our bee populations both native and introduced but first we have to discuss what’s threatening them and why we need to act.

Tropilaelaps Mites: A Fate Worse Than Varroa (50 minutes)

Tropilaelaps mites are spreading across the globe at a rate very similar to that of Varroa in the 1960’s, roughly 20 years before they arrived in the US. If they continue to spread this way, it’s possible that they could be here just as quickly. These mites are much more destructive than Varroa with faster population growth, greater mobility, and no pesticides currently labeled for their treatment. There’s a lot to learn about them. This presentation details what we already know and what we still need to figure out.

Tropilaelaps Up Close and Personal: Face to Face with a Mysterious Bee Mite (1 hour)

No one questions the wisdom of the saying, "Know your enemy". However, we have developed some level of comfort with the idea that some facets of knowledge will always be unavailable to us; like real-time the behavior of Tropilaelaps mites in the nearly 2 week period that they spend under the capping with a developing host bee. With the aid of new technology and novel protocols, we can now get an unprecedented look at this destructive parasite to determine exactly what it's doing to our bees.

Despicable Mites: Recent Findings in the Study of Tropilaelaps mercedesae and Varroa destructor (1 hour)

The infamous parasitic bee mite Varroa destructor can now be found nearly everywhere that honey bees can worldwide making it the most widely distributed bee pest in the world. Tropilaelaps mercedesae, a closely related mite, seems to have similar aspirations for world domination as it expands both its geographic and host range. For the last 4 years, my work has focused on correcting a more than half-century old error in our understanding of one of the most fundamental aspects of Varroa's lifecycle, namely, what it eats. My goal now in studying Tropilaelaps is to ensure we have a solid understanding of the basics of this parasite's biology before it becomes the global pest it now threatens to be.

Honey Bee Internal Anatomy: A Live Guided Dissection (30 minutes) (not available virtually)

Ever wondered where the fat body, heart, venom glands or other organs are in your honey bees? Have you wanted to have a researcher with tons of experience in dissecting bees show you what this stuff looks like? Well, you’re in luck. If you’ve got a dissecting microscope and a connected projector, I can take you through a few honey bee dissections and point out the key features of the internal honey bee landscape.