Natalie Boyle
Dr. Natalie Boyle is a recent graduate from the Department of Entomology at Washington State University in Pullman, WA. She earned her master’s degree in 2012 under the advisement of Dr. Steve Sheppard and received her PhD in 2015 from Dr. Doug Walsh’s lab studying pollinator-mediated gene flow in alfalfa seed production.
Her research background includes direct experience working with honey bees, the alfalfa leafcutting bee, and the alkali bee in agricultural settings. Natalie is delighted to be joining the ICP team as a USDA postdoc in the Logan bee lab.
Claire Brittain
In the ICP project, I am compiling spatial data for all sampling sites to analyze how landscape composition affects the supply of bees for crop pollination. I am also involved in modelling changes in bee abundance with land use change and helping to monitor wildflower plots adjacent to almond orchards. One of the aspects of the ICP project that most appeals to me is its ability to test the effectiveness of habitat enhancements at supporting pollinators and crop pollination on the ground, across multiple systems in different regions of the US.
I received my PhD from the University of Reading, U.K. where I worked with Simon Potts on the impact of insecticides on pollinating insects at multiple spatial scales. Afterwards, I joined Alexandra-Maria Klein’s Ecosystem Functions group at Leuphana University, Germany as a postdoc. Whilst there I worked on local and landscape drivers of pollinator diversity in California almond orchards and the benefits of diversity for almond pollination
Josh Campbell
Dr. Joshua W. Campbell is a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Florida in the Honey Bee Research and Extension Lab (HBREL). He received his B.S. degrees in zoology/geology from Auburn University, M.S. degree in geoscience from University of Nebraska-Lincoln and his Ph.D in entomology from the University of Georgia.
At the University of Florida, his primary research focus deals with pollinating insects and how they are affected by human land use. He currently works on ICP (Integrated Crop Pollination), OP (Operation Pollinator), and a project testing a novel pesticide on honey bee health.
Jason Gibbs
I j
oined Project ICP (Integrated Crop Pollination) as a Research Associate in March 2013. As part of the Project ICP leadership team I help coordinate project-wide efforts to measure factors affecting pollinator communities in specialty crop agroecosytems. I am studying the impacts of native and managed pollinators on highbush blueberry yields. Strategies for increasing pollination services through habitat improvement and alternative managed pollinators are being tested in commercial fields in Western Michigan.
My main research interests involve understanding the biological diversity of wild bees. My past work has focused primarily on resolving taxonomic difficulties of sweat bees (family Halictidae), which formed the basis of my PhD dissertation at York University in Toronto, Canada. As a post-doctoral researcher at Cornell University I investigated the historical relationships of sweat bees and how this pertains to classification and social evolution. My previous work has also contributed to studies of bee diversity in agricultural and natural landscapes and historical patterns of bee communities. More information on my previous work can be found at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jason_Gibbs2?ev=hdr_xprf
In my spare time I photograph, collect and identify bees.
Insu Koh
Insu Koh joined ICP in August 2013 to help lead the ecological and economic modeling efforts of the project. Dr. Koh uses spatially-explicit models to understand how landscape composition affects insect communities and the ecosystem services they provide to agriculture. He has worked in Korea, Germany, and the U.S. on these issues, focused mostly on natural enemies of crop pests. He’s excited to use his tools and skills on pollination over the next several years. Insu will be working with ICP’s modeling team to develop a spatial model for crop pollination services, to fit this model to data from ICP’s field sites, and to synthesize results from across ICP into general findings. He has also made clear his intension to get into the field, so be warned! Dr. Koh received his PhD from Seoul National University and has most recently been a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at Purdue University.
Past Postdocs
Derek Artz
I have been a Postdoctoral Associate with the USDA-ARS Pollinating Insect Research Unit in Logan, Utah since November 2010 working mainly on the development of the blue orchard bee, Osmia lignaria, for commercial use, particularly as almond pollinators. My field and lab studies are directed at enhancing the efficacy of blue orchard bees by varying the stocking density of bees as well as the density and distribution of nesting boxes within commercial orchards. My research also involves conducting field trials to evaluate fungicides and surfactants for lethal and sublethal effects on blue orchard bees and alfalfa leafcutter bees, Megachile rotundata. My role in Project Integrated Crop Pollination (ICP) is to determine the abundance and visitation rates of blue orchard bees, honey bees, and other pollinators to almond flowers in large commercial orchards in California. Prior to joining USDA-ARS, I worked as a Postdoctoral Associate at Cornell University studying native bee pollinators of pumpkin in New York and hawkmoth pollination of evening primrose in western North America.
Mark Otieno
I am involved with implementing ICP project objectives in Pennsylvania by conducting studies that define the community composition and abundance of bees in pumpkin and apple crops. My overall role is to determine the value of wild bees for providing pollination service to these crops. I am also involved with activities aimed at evaluating the effects of landscape, habitat manipulation and supplementation with managed bees on bee abundance and pollination services.
ICP has a great potential for supporting long-term sustainability of specialty crop production in the U.S. Using multidisciplinary approaches to determine and quantify various farm and landscape contexts in which managed bees and wild bees can be utilized, it will help growers achieve efficient and economic crop pollination service. It is also important in increasing the ability of growers to better manage pollinators to improve their crop yield and in increasing awareness of the importance of native bees among the public.
Cory Stanley-Stahr
I became a member of Project Integrated Crop Pollination (ICP) in March 2013 as a postdoctoral research associate in the Ellis Lab at University of Florida. I am responsible for determining the identities and abundance of pollinators in watermelons and blueberries in Florida, as well as determining the effectiveness and value of habitat enhancements and supplemental managed bees for these specialty crops. I also provide ICP information to stakeholders in many formats.
Before joining the ICP team in Florida, I worked as the Bee Specialist and Cooperative Agricultural Pests Survey Coordinator for Utah State University Cooperative Extension. I had a very diverse extension program encompassing honey beekeeping classes, education about alternative pollinators, and prevention and management of invasive plant pests. My research at Utah State focused on lethal and sublethal effects of fungicides and adjuvants on solitary bees. Additional research interests include exploring factors that affect nest selection and retention of commercial populations in managed solitary bees, parasites and pathogens of native bees, and development of alternative pollinator forage that may enhance pollination of specialty crops.