Science Series What’s Happening to Our Bees?

What’s Happening to Our Bees? Numerous theories have been posited to explain the mysterious affliction that began plaguing honeybees in what is now known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), where bees across North America and Europe were dying in epidemic numbers. Were bees the victims of mites, fungus, virus, stress and/or cell-phone signals? What would happen to our food supply without honeybee pollination?

Harvard biologist Chensheng “Alex” Lu was among the first scientists to identify a class of widely used insecticides known as neonicotinoids as a link in CCD, causing honeybees to abandon their hives and eventually die. Lu will outline his groundbreaking research, presenting the latest discoveries from his ongoing fieldwork.

Chensheng Lu is an associate professor of Environmental Exposure Biology in the Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health. His research interests examine how ecological and human health are being affected by pervasive chemicals and pesticide exposures, particularly in children, honeybees, food and farmworkers. He is associate editor for Environmental Health Perspectives, one of the leading peer-review journals of environmental health, and also serves as an ad hoc reviewer for more than 30 scientific journals. Additionally, since 2004 he has served as an ad hoc member on the scientific advisory panel to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, under the authority of the Federal Insecticides, Fungicides and Rodenticides Act (FIFRA).

Sunday, November 9, 4 pm. Vashon Allied Arts.
$16 Member/Student/Senior. $20 General.
Tickets: VAA, VashonAlliedArts.org
Thanks to our lodging sponsor, Plum Lodge Bed & Breakfast.