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About Me
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Sheila R. Colla

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 looking at various aspects of bumblebee parasites.  I
completed my PhD in Biology at York University under the supervision of Dr. Packer. My projects included determining to what extent the Rusty-
Patched bumblebee (Bombus affinis) and other native species have declined in eastern North America. 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 and my
collaborators are currently looking into include pesticide use, disease susceptibility, habitat loss and climate change. I am currently the Project Leader for Wildlife 
Preservation Canada'a  At-risk Pollinator Program. 
 
I am interested in the policy and public outreach aspects of pollinator conservation. I have written status reports, management papers, recovery strategies
and field guides.  Currently, I am the IUCN SSC Bumblebee Specialist Group Regional co-cordinator for North America, and the vice-president of the Toronto
Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology.  I have worked with numerous organizations including the UN-FAO, IUCN, COSEWIC, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources,
Farms at Work, the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Can-Polin, Natureserve, Evergreen, Pollinator Partnership and NAPPC.  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Here are some media links related to my research:

The Walrus' Fight of the Bumblebee by Sasha Chapman

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

Publications: 
  • Colla, S.R. et al. (2012) Assessing the Conservation Status of North American Bumble Bees Using Collection Records. 
  • Williams, P, R. Thorp, L. Richardson, S.R. Colla (In Prep) The Bumble Bees of North America. Princeton University Press. 
  • Szabo, N., S.R. Colla et al. (2012) Is pathogen spillover from commercial bumblebees responsible for North American wild bumblebee declines? Conservation Letters
  • Bartomeus et al (Accepted) Climate-associated phenological advances in bee pollinators and bee-pollinated plants. PNAS
  • Colla, S.R. et al (Accepted) A rapid approach documenting persistence of most eastern North American bee species (Hymenoptera:Apoidea:Anthophila) to 1990-2009.
  • Owen et al. (In Press) Significant expansion of the distribution of the bumble bee Bombus moderatus (Hymenoptera:Apidae) over twenty years, CJZ 
  • Colla, S.R. & A. Taylor-Pindar (2011) Recovery Strategy for the Rusty-patched Bumble bee in Ontario. Ontario Recovery Strategy Series, prepared for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Peterborough. [Online] http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/stdprodconsume/groups/lr/@mnr/@species/documents/document/stdprod_086037.pdf
  • Colla, S.R. & M. Otterstatter (Submitted) Status Report for the Western Bumble bee (Bombus occidentalis). COSEWIC, Environment Canada
  • Colla, S.R & C.S. Sheffield (2010) Status of Bumble Bees in Canada. WildSpecies Report, Environment Canada [Online] http://www.wildspecies.ca/wildspecies2010/results-insects-bumblebees.cfm?lang=e
  • Colla, S.R., L. Richardson & P. Williams. 2010. A Guide to the Bumble Bees of Eastern North America. Pollinator Partnership, Washington, D.C. *all authors contributed equally
  • Schweitzer, D.F., N.A. Capuano, B.E. Young & S.R. Colla. 2010. Conservation Management of North American Bumble Bees. NatureServe and USDA Forest Service, Washington D.C.
  • Colla, S.R. & S. Dumesh. 2010. Natural history notes for the bumble bees of southern Ontario. JESO 141: 38-67.
  • Colla, S.R. & C.M. Ratti. 2010. Evidence for the decline of the Western Bumble bee (Bombus occidentalis Greene) in British Columbia Pan-Pacific Entomologist 86:32-34.
  • Ratti, C.M. & S.R.Colla. 2010. Discussion of the presence of an eastern bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) in western Canada Pan-Pacific Entomologist 86:29-31.
  • Colla, S.R. 2010. Status Report for the Rusty-Patched Bumblebee (Bombus affinis). COSEWIC, Environment Canada [Online] http://www.sararegistry.gc.ca/species/speciesDetails_e.cfm?sid=1081
  • Colla, S.R,, E.Willis, & L.Packer. 2009. Can green roofs provide habitat for urban bees? CATE.  (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. Biodiv and Cons 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. Biol Cons 129: 461- 467
  • Otterstatter, M.C., R.J. Gegear, S.R. Colla & J.D. Thomson. 2005. The effects of two parasites on bumblebee foraging behaviour. BES 58: 383-389
DOWNLOAD PDFs

Colla&Dumesh2010

Ratti&Colla2010

Colla&Ratti2010.pdf

WilliamsCollaandXie2009

Colla&Packer2008

Colla et al.2006

OtterstatterGegearCollaandThomson2005