From 2018 - 2020, my M.S. research broadly focused on how prairie restoration affects bumble bee abundance and species richness (# of species). We found huge increases the number of bees and the number of species of bees when sites were planted with native prairie vegetation.

Since 2021, my research has been expanding off of the results from my M.S. work. Do large increases in the number of bumble bees and number of species mean that prairie restorations are helping populations to recover and persist over time?

I am answering this question using a diverse set of methods across scientific fields. Population genetics are being used to estimate the true population size (# of colonies), genetic diversity, and intergenerational survival. Natural history observational methods are being used to understand nesting preferences and important information about