You can now watch Part 2 of my PC Experts interview, just in time for the end of summer break here at Providence College! Learn about where my lab does fieldwork, how you can help #savethebees (shoutout to Tufts Pollinator Initiative and The Pollinator Partnership!), and how you can help my lab collect insect pollinator […]
Bees and Butterflies with Dr. B (Part 1)
I recently chatted with Providence College Public Affairs about the teaching and research I’ve done during my first year here. Learn about bees, butterflies, and caterpillars in Part 1 of my “PC Experts” interview.
New publication! Fender’s blue butterfly abundance and phenology
The Fender’s blue butterfly is a federally threated butterfly endemic to the Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA. Since 1993, multiple sites in the Willamette Valley have been regularly surveyed for Fender’s blue abundance. This provided my co-authors and I a unique opportunity to investigate how population growth may (or may not!) correlate with shifts in phenology, […]
Frosted elfin surveys funded!
Many thanks to the Southeastern New England Educational and Charitable Foundation for funding frosted elfin surveys, which will occur in 2021! I am excited to engage undergraduates in fieldwork and research on this rare butterfly!
iNaturalist Project
Want to help us catalog the diversity of pollinators on and around Providence College campus? Join our project on iNaturalist! New to iNaturalist? See iNaturalist’s guide to getting started and some tips for making observations from the Tufts Pollinator Initiative.
#ScholarStrike
For the past two days, I have been participating in Scholar Strike, a movement to bring awareness of structural and systemic racism in America. As someone who couldn’t see myself in the popular image of “scientist” while I was growing up, I strive to be inclusive in my teaching and my mentorship, but I know […]
Honey bees can’t practice social distancing, so they stay healthy in close quarters by working together
Like humans, honey bees are extremely social and are susceptible to disease. Check out our piece in The Conversation about how they work together to fight disease, much like we must to fight COVID-19. Read here.
Species interactions in a prairie butterfly: Puget blues, ants and nectar plants
Every year, the South Sound, WA celebrates its prairies with Prairie Appreciation Day where visitors tour the gorgeous prairies and participate in activities to learn about prairie plants, pollinators, and more. This year, Prairie Appreciation Day was cancelled but, we’re still celebrating virtually! Instead of in-person activities, the virtual celebration is a blog with posts […]
Happy World Bee Day!
Did you know there are 20,000 species of bees in the world? And that 4,000 of those species are native to North America? In celebration of World Bee Day, Tufts Pollinator Initiative (TPI) highlights some of the bees TPI members have studied across the United States and in Costa Rica! Read about TEN species of […]
Stop calling it the "murder hornet"
Over the weekend, you may have seen charged headlines about the “murder hornet.” In response, I received many panicked messages asking whether the Asian giant hornet is a cause for concern. Check out my recent Tufts Pollinator Initiative (TPI) blog post to learn about why this hornet could be a problem for managed honey bees, […]
Providence Pollinator Lab 