Washington Native Bee Society
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Washington Native Bee Society
Monthly Meeting
April 25th, 2024 @ 7:00
Michelle Boone: Using detection probabilities to find rare bumble bees – an example from the Midwest
April 25th, 2024 at 7:00pm on Zoom
Bees are small and highly mobile animals, which can make them difficult to detect in the landscape. Whether searching for bees for research, monitoring, or recreation, sometimes a species is present at a site but goes undetected. This phenomenon, known as imperfect detection, points to the need to consider factors that influence the detectability of target species. Is a specific bee species more readily detectable at certain times of day or in specific habitat types? Research on bee detection is still in its infancy, with most studies focused on bumble bees, so the speaker will share recent examples of research on detection of rusty patched bumble bees in Minnesota. The talk will introduce concepts of detection probability, occupancy, and search effort from a scientific context.
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Michelle Boone
Dr. Michelle Boone is an entomologist interested in pollinator monitoring and conservation who lives in Portland, OR. Originally from Minnesota, Michelle completed her PhD in the Native Bee Lab in the University of MN Entomology Department in 2023 where she studied detection and occupancy of bumble bees in the context of monitoring, including the federally endangered rusty patched bumble bee. After completing her doctoral studies, Michelle worked briefly as a post-doctoral researcher at Washington State University Vancouver (WSUV) studying western monarch phenology and habitat use in eastern OR and WA. She remains affiliated with WSUV as a Visiting Scholar, through which she hopes to continue research on bumble bee survey methods. Michelle recently started a new contract position with the National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring Division as a Pollinator Project Manager, where she oversees bee and butterfly inventory projects across 23 park units. Michelle recently joined the Washington Native Bee Society to learn more about regional bee species and conservation issues.