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Alana Pindar - University of Guelph. Halifax, NS, CA

Alana Pindar

Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Environmental Sciences | University of Guelph

Halifax, NS, CANADA

Wild bee expert who studies the impact of environmental stressors such as climate change and habitat loss on bee communities

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Biography

I am a community ecologist who studies the impact of environmental stressors on wild bee communities.
Bees are the single most important taxonomic group of pollinators, comprised of more than 20,000 species essential to both agricultural production and maintaining wild plant diversity. Wild bees, and the pollination services they provide, appear to be in global decline with reported losses documented across multiple continents. Several causal factors for global bee declines have been suggested, including long-term anthropogenic land use change, climate change, parasites and pathogens, invasive species and the increasing use of agrochemicals. Whilst the scientific community has started to build consensus on how such environmental stress factors might affect bees, particularly honeybees and bumblebees, we know almost nothing about how these factors might affect wild bee communities. These wild bee communities have historically provided us with ‘free’ crop pollination services and it alarming to consider bee declines have already, or will in the future, lead to pollination deficits and reduced food production. We urgently need to understand how the full range of anthropogenic stressors could impact bee communities across a range of landscapes and spatial scales.

Industry Expertise (3)

Agriculture and Farming

Fire Protection

Research

Areas of Expertise (7)

Biodiversity

Pollination Biology

Pollination

Ecological Analysis

Ecological disturbance

Ecology

Entomology

Accomplishments (1)

Webster Postdoctoral Fellow (professional)

2021-08-07

Established in honour of the late Earle J.D. Webster, the Webster Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Environmental Sciences was created to fun ground-breaking environmental science research toward making a better planet. Webster attended OAC in 1927, and later went on to distinguish himself as an elementary school educator and author. He showed lifelong interest in both geology and forestry.

Education (3)

Acadia University: BSc, Biology 2004

York University: MSc, Entomology; Restoration Ecology 2007

York University: PhD, Pollination; Biodiversity 2012

Affiliations (1)

  • Post Doctoral Fellow- University of Ottawa

Languages (1)

  • English

Media Appearances (4)

Bees Are Losing Their Habitat Because of Climate Change

Time Magazine  online

2015-07-09

Article for paper published in Science

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Bumble bees being crushed by climate change

Science Magazine  online

2015-07-09

Media from Science paper

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The Buzz on Bees

CBC radio  radio

2017-02-09

Maritime Noon radio show- all about bees and phone in from audience with questions

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Climate change killing off bumblebees at alarming rate: study

Global news  tv

2015-07-09

Media from Science paper

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Articles (2)

Relocation risky for bumblebee colonies—Response

Science Magazine

2015-10-07

scientific publication

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Climate change impacts on bumblebees converge across continents

Science Magazine

2015-07-07

Scientific publication

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