Kyle Bobiwash
Simon Fraser University
My research interests are focused on establishing methodologies to enhance habitat within and around agricultural fields to both increase the presence of beneficial arthropods and the ecosystem services they provide. This will be essential going forward to mediate threats such as pollinator loss, climate change and anthropogenic landscape disturbances. Through a better understanding of the pest predators, wild and managed pollinators present in British Columbia agriculture, we can maintain and potentially increase the effectiveness of pollination and pest predator services by adapting our farming practices to accommodate the needs and behaviour of these insects. My research project aims to determine the key features in farm landscapes that supply beneficial arthropods with resources in order to ultimately provide farmers with field trialed techniques that optimize crop production while maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.
Chase Kimmel
University of Florida
I am a second year PhD student at the University of Florida studying how land management practices impact pollinator habitat and pollinator diversity. For Project ICP, I am part of the team developing habitat management practices to improve crop pollination to blueberry and watermelon crops (objective two). My dissertation research identifies key floral resources being utilized by pollinators in upland sandhill pine communities and investigates how fire management practices (prescribed burn frequency and timing) impact pollinator diversity. Before joining UF’s Honey Bee Research and Extension Laboratory, I worked as an environmental scientist on wetland and waterway permitting, mitigation planning, and monitoring throughout the Midwest. In my spare time, I love spending time with my family, scuba diving, hiking, photography, and traveling.
Corey Androkoupolis
Utah State University
I received my BS in Biology and Zoology from Humboldt State University in December 2013. I am currently a graduate research assistant with Dr. Jim Cane at the USDA-ARS Pollinating Insect Research Unit and pursuing a Master’s degree in Ecology at Utah State University. For my part in Project ICP I am studying raspberry pollination. In May 2014 I helped to collect data on the abundance and distribution of bees in commercial raspberry orchards in northern Oregon. My future research as part of the ICP project will focus on determining the relative pollination efficiencies, on raspberry, for several genera of bees including Apis, Bombus, Osmia, and Ceratina. I will also be studying various aspects of the behavior and biology of Osmia aglaia, which has shown promise as a manageable pollinator of cane fruits in the Pacific Northwest.