Save the Bumblebees

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Sheila R. Colla

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Research Interests:

I completed an Hons B.Sc. in Zoology at the University of Toronto, St.George campus. During this time I assisted various people in Dr. Thomson's lab with projects on pollination biology/pollinator behaviour and completed two honours theses.  The first looked at the effects of parasites on bumblebee foraging behaviour and the second documented the transfer of parasites from commercial bumble bees used for greenhouse pollination to wild bumblebees foraging near greenhouses.          

I am now pursuing a PhD in Biology at York University under the supervision of Dr. Packer. My projects include determining to what extent the Rusty-Patched bumblebee (Bombus affinis) has declined throughout its native range and how bumblebee species diversity has changed in southern Ontario, Canada over the past 100 years.  I am also interested in determining habitat associations and requirements for each eastern species in order to aid future conservation efforts.  The possible causes for decline which I am currently looking into include pesticide use, disease susceptibility, habitat loss and climate change.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Here are some media links related to my research:

Signs of Decline, First Honeybees, Now Bumblebees -Washington Post

Colony Collapse Disorder:Many Suspects, No Smoking Gun -BioScience

The Disappearing Bumblebee -CBC's Quirks & Quarks

North America's Losing Its Bumblebees -CurrentResults.com

Plight of the Bumblebee -Toronto Star

Plight of the Bumblebee- Canadian Geographic

Scientific Publications: 
  • Colla, S.R. & C.M. Ratti (Submitted) Evidence for the decline of the Western Bumble bee (Bombus occidentalis Greene) in British Columbia
  • Ratti, C.M. & S.R.Colla (Submitted) The presence of an eastern bumble bee, Bombus impatiens, in western Canada
  • Colla, S.R. (Submitted) Status Report for the Rusty-Patched Bumblebee (Bombus affinis). For the Committee on the Status of Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), Environment Canada
  • Colla, S.R,, E.Willis, & L.Packer. (2009)  Can green roofs provide habitat for urban bees? Cities and the Environment.  (2):1 [Online] http://escholarship.bc.edu/cate/vol2/iss1/4/
  • Williams, P., S.R. Colla & Z. Xie. (2009) Bumblebee vulnerability: common correlates of winners and losers across three continents. Conservation Biology  23: 931-940
  • Colla, S.R. & L. Packer. 2008. Evidence for decline in eastern North American bumblebees (Hymenoptera:Apidae), with special focus on Bombus affinis Cresson. Biodiversity and Conservation 17: 1379-1391
  • Colla, S.R., M.C. Otterstatter, R.J. Gegear & J.D. Thomson. 2006.  Plight of the bumblebee: Pathogen spillover from commercial to wild populations. Biological Conservation 129: 461- 467
  • Otterstatter, M.C., R.J. Gegear, S.R. Colla & J.D. Thomson. 2005.  The effects of two parasites (Crithidia bombi and Locustacarus buchneri) on bumblebee foraging behaviour. Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology 58: 383-389
DOWNLOAD PDFs

WilliamsCollaandXie2009

Colla&Packer2008

Colla et al.2006

OtterstatterGegearCollaandThomson2005

Society Memberships:
  • North American Pollinator Protection Campaign Partner (2006-2009) Member of the Bee Importation and Laws Affecting Pollinators, Pesticides  & Bombus Issues Task Forces
  • Society for Conservation Biology
  • Entomological Society of Canada 
  • Entomological Society of Ontario 
  • Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution
  • Society of Invertebrate Pathology

Awards:

  • American Association for the Advancement of Science Program for Excellence in Science Award: May 2008-2009 
  • NSERC Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship: May 2007-2010
  • Ontario Graduate Scholarship: May 2007 (Declined)
  • Ronald Pearlman Ontario Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology: May 2006 (Declined)
  • Ontario Graduate Scholarship: May 2006 
  • Faculty of Graduate Studies Entrance Scholarship, York University: September 2005 
  • NSERC Undergraduate Summer Research Award, University of Toronto: May 2003