(EurekAlert, University of Reading) A new study found that the costs of running nationwide monitoring schemes are more than 70 times lower than the value of pollination services to the UK economy, and provide high quality scientific data at a much lower cost than running individual research projects.
(ScienceDaily, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig) Data collected by citizen science initiatives, museums and national parks is an important basis for research on biodiversity change. However, scientists found that sampling sites are oftentimes not representative, which may lead to false conclusions about how biodiversity changes. Their research calls for more objective site selection and better training for citizen scientists to prevent a site-selection bias.
(Entomology Today) “Of methods to collect bees, sweep netting vastly outperformed all other methods in terms of the number of bees and number of species… I also found that there were huge disparities in the representation of honey bees and native bees according to sampling method.”
(Entomology Today) Entomology outreach is an essential part of inviting the public to learn about and engage with insects. Frequently, graduate students are at the forefront of engaging the public in this field. However, not every graduate student is prepared to interact with a pre-entomologist, nor are they convinced that this is an important activity. Here is a beginner’s guide to initiating outreach.
(Twitter, Elaine Evans ) “Take photos of bumble bees and share on iNaturalist. If you can ID bumble bees, also keep track of your time looking and help record some other data to help us track bumble bee populations.” Check out the project website and the iNaturalist project webpage.
(AP) The Trump administration has rescinded a rule that would have required international students to transfer schools or leave the country if their colleges hold classes entirely online this fall because of the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced the decision as a court hearing was getting underway on a challenge to the rule by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
(NPR) Foreign students attending U.S. colleges that will operate entirely online this fall semester cannot remain in the country to do so, according to new regulations released Monday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The federal guidance limits options for international students and leaves them with an uncomfortable choice: attend in-person classes during a pandemic or take them online from another country. And for students enrolled in schools that have already announced plans to operate fully online, there is no choice.
(York University) Think you can identify that bumble bee you just took a photo of in your backyard? York University researchers have found that a little more than 50% of community science participants, who submitted photos to the North American Bumble Bee Watch program, were able to properly identify the bee species. “Accurate species level identification is an important first step for effective conservation management decisions. Those community science programs that have experts review submitted photos to determine if the identification is correct have a higher scientific value.”
