MELANIE MARGARITA KIRBY, MS

Melanie M. Kirby is a Tigua+Apache (Tortugas Pueblo, NM)+ Caribbean American who was first introduced to apiculture as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer stationed in South America. She is a researcher, writer, and ceramicist. She founded Zia Queenbees Farm & Field Institute in the southern Rocky Mountains and serves as the Extension Educator focusing on the intersectionality of culture, food system sovereignty, and the arts at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, NM.

LEIF RICHARDSON, PhD

Leif Richardson is a conservation biologist with the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, and worked until recently as an environmental consultant. His work focuses on the distribution and diversity of native bees, as well as their value as agricultural pollinators. At Xerces, he is launching a community science project to inventory the bumble bees of California. As an environmental consultant, his work focused on assessing risk of pesticides to managed and wild pollinators, as well as inventory and monitoring for endangered species. He previously conducted graduate work on the chemical ecology of pollination, and worked as an ecologist for Vermont Agency of Natural Resources. Leif’s research specialty is bumble bee ecology and conservation and he is co-author of Bumble Bees of North America: an Identification Guide. More information at: https://www.leifrichardson.org/.

STEVE PETERSON, PhD

I have a BS in entomology from UC Davis and a PhD from U. Wisconsin at Madison. My PhD topic was in integrated pest management and I studied as a Postdoc at University of Idaho on alfalfa leafcutting bees (Megachile rotundata). I've had a few different types of jobs including contract research, leafcutting bee pollination of alfalfa for seed and teaching at a community college. I currently have my own business where I raise Osmia mason bees for research, pollination of almonds and blueberries and I consult with growers on solitary bee pollination.

THERESA PITTS-SINGER, PhD

I was born and raised outside of Nashville, TN. At Vanderbilt University, I double-majored in Biology and Anthropology, and obtained my MS and PhD in Entomology at the University of Georgia. Between undergrad and grad school, I worked for 3 years at Vanderbilt Medical Center as a Cytogenetic Technician. With my PhD, I was co-coordinator for the 2 sessions Organization for Tropical Studies Tropical Ecology field course (in Costa Rica for 3 mos. each), was a postdoc at University of Arkansas Extension Service, the U.S. Forest Service and the University of Georgia studying overwintering aspects of boll weevils, rare plant pollinators, and termite foraging behavior, respectively. I also taught undergrad and grad students in Entomology, Zoology, Invertebrate Zoology, and General Biology Laboratory as a postdoc (Univ. Georgia) and assistant professor (Univ. Arkansas Little Rock). My current employment at the USDA ARS Pollinating Insects Research Unit began in 2002, and my current full-time research is with the management and environmental efforts on the solitary, cavity-nesting blue orchard bees and alfalfa leafcuttting bees as important pollinators of U.S. crops. Beyond career, my passion is rugby; I played from 1982-2002 and have been coaching since 1998, currently coaching Utah State University Women's Club.