The Case for Bee-Focused Citizen Science Projects on the College Campus

Many species of bees are threatened. An accurate assessment of their distribution, abundance, and phenology drives conservation efforts. Citizen science invites the public to participate in large-scale data collection on bees, assisting professional researchers in making recommendations to remediate anthropogenic causes of species decline. Citizen scientists commonly collect data in public and private gardens and within managed bee populations, but rarely in educational settings. A handful of bee-focused citizen science projects have been administered in the K-12 sector, but such projects are lacking in higher education. With college campuses open during the summer months, correlating with bees’ most active period, college students are ideal citizen scientists. Citizen science research can be built into college curricula, allowing students to participate in co-creating projects and managing them online. College campuses, many of which are certified Bee Campuses, are also well equipped to implement meaningful conservation efforts based on the findings of citizen science student projects.