#research/blog

[dancingindreamlight]

Dreams receding even further into the distance.... 😪

[discoursets]

[sanctus-ingenium]

important bird business for important little birds

[academicfever]

70/100

[asgardian--angels]

**URGENT** HELP SAVE THE USGS BEE LAB!

PLEASE circulate this as widely as possible, as soon as possible.

Hi all, you may not know me but I am a native bee researcher in the eastern US. People like me work to study and protect the 3600 species of native bees in North America, many of which are in severe decline.

We just received devastating news, that unfortunately was not surprising. The Trump administration's proposed 2026 budget is set to defund most of the ecological research happening at the USGS, and that includes zeroing out the budget for the USGS Native Bee Inventory & Monitoring Lab.

Don't know them? Maybe you've seen stunning photos like this:

These gorgeous and evocative focus-stacked photos of native bees on black backgrounds - all of which are public domain - come from the USGS Bee Lab (here's their Flickr). Through these, they've helped bring the beauty and importance of native bees to the public's attention. Hundreds if not thousands of news articles, videos, and publications use these photos.

But that is just one tiny slice of what the USGS Bee Lab does for pollinator conservation. Its primary role is much bigger; they provide technical support, research collaborations, and financial & grant partnerships to federal and state agencies, academic institutions and researchers, and much more, so we can study, manage, and protect North America's wild pollinators. They conduct research of their own that has led to species rediscoveries, and produce invaluable resources that have greatly advanced our understanding of wild bees and our approaches to studying and conserving them. They also provide the essential and irreplaceable service of bee identification. For those who don't know, identifying bees is hard. Sometimes Really Hard. And this lab is one of just a handful of places in the entire country who can identify some of the toughest groups of bees, and who sit on the forefront of breakthroughs on taxonomy and identification that the rest of us in this field rely on. Without this service, agencies and researchers trying to survey and monitor bees in order to track population declines, manage land, and get policy changed are stuck with a lot of nameless bees, severely limiting the usefulness of that data.

Tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of bee specimens pass through this lab annually, plus the thousands in permanent storage, from long-term monitoring efforts by state and federal agencies, and researchers like myself. They operate at a greater capacity than basically any other institution doing this kind of work. Few if any bee researchers in the eastern US, or even the country, have not benefitted from this lab's work, and those benefits are passed on to you through being able to protect pollinators and the services they provide both in agriculture and ecosystems.

This lab is headed up by scientist Sam Droege, who has dedicated decades of his life to this cause, and whom I consider not just a research partner but, humbly, a friend. I am utterly indebted to him for helping me get my start in this field, and for the support and kindness he has shown me and every other young professional who is passionate about pollinators. The Lab operates with an insanely small budget already, and a very limited staff, yet the impact they have is exponentially outsized. Losing the USGS Bee Lab would be a devastating blow to pollinator conservation in this country, at a time when native bee species are sitting on the precipice, and sustainable agriculture is non-negotiable for our future.

You can read more about the Bee Lab here. The Lab is not well-publicized, but it's a lifeline for the many dedicated people who work to try and protect pollinators and the environment at large.

SO WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Sam Droege has sent out a request for help, and has encouraged us to post on social media. This is what he wants you to do to help us save the Bee Lab.

This is verbatim:

What is Happening: ·       The USGS Bee Lab is at risk of being permanently closed due to cuts in the 2026 Federal Budget and looming federal RIF’s ·       Specifically, the Ecosystem Mission Area (EMA) budget, which funds the USGS Bee Lab and the Eastern Ecological Science center has been zeroed out ·       Thousands of layoffs to hit Interior, National Parks imminently - Government Executive What you can do ·       Write to your representatives, the White House, and the Department of the Interior that they should restore the funding for the USGS Bee Lab ·       Send digital or physical letters, write emails, post to social media What you should be highlighting: ·       Personal anecdotes about how the Bee Lab has impacted you or your organization ·       How important the research the Bee Lab is conducting is to your state Contact Information: 1.      Representatives: Find Your Representative | house.gov 2.      Senators: U.S. Senate: Contacting U.S. Senators 3.      White House: Contact Us – The White House 4.      Interior: feedback@ios.doi.gov Send a copy of the letter to droegesam@gmail.com Pass this email around.  Post your response to social media

IT'S OK if you are not a scientist and have not directly interacted with the Bee Lab. Have you seen the lab's photos? Are you concerned about native pollinator declines? Are you aware of any pollinator conservation initiatives or policies in your own state - those almost certainly have drawn, directly or indirectly, from work the Lab has done. Speak about American food production and agriculture, how the Lab's research and collaborations are essential to safeguarding pollination services (this might help reach across the aisle).

Sam urges that these letters, emails, phone calls, etc, must happen quickly - within the next couple days. This information went out on May 8th and that is the day I am posting this. So please, don't wait.

If 'save the bees' has ever meant anything to you, this is the agency that is playing one of the biggest roles in this country in making that happen. Please, contact your representatives, and pass this call to action along however you can. Thank you.

[zu-is-here]

<– • –>

[thesecrethistori-an]

A quick underwhelming breakfast

PhD Day 14: feeling very tired today (it's not even 7 am yet). I have so many things to do and so little time. My big deadline for my grant proposal is getting closer and closer and I feel like all these other tasks get on the way.

I just need October to end to be able to focus on the research :)

[starfata]

Perse: Guess I'll be eating traditional Greek food.

Plants that haven't come to Greece and will not for centuries, if not Millenia:

Perse: Oh. Oh no. Basically none of the traditional Greek food exists yet. Time to start turning people into plants I guess. Where's the olive oil?

Olive tree: *Has existed for about two minutes longer than she has*

Perse: This is fixable!

[jstor]

✨ New on the blog: If your heart is in the humanities, you may be discouraged in the face of other academic fields–but the humanities remain critical. Through a journey of loss, literature, and scholarly accounts, learn how the humanities are vital to human understanding. Read the blog post. Image: Charles Le Brun and William Hebert. A man whose profile expresses compassion. n.d. Wellcome Collection.

[thisischeri]

iMac G4, Apple, 2002

instagram: cheri.png

[monstersholygrail]

10% of the day I’m giggling and thinking about monster porn.

90% of the day I’m feeling sick to my stomach seeing every new horrible thing the States are doing to its people.

I hope everyone who can attend the protests today do and that they stay safe out there. Make sure you’re doing your research on the best procedure to protect yourself, others, and your identities.

[academicfever]

71/100

I've bad period cramps today... couldn't go to uni... I gotta be honest here... not everyday will be 10/10... we will have these days and its ok. accepting a not so productive day when ur body is barely surviving is more than ok! sending love and warmth to all my perfectionist girlies out there!

Log: 17th Feb 2025 running wild

Read Ministry of Time

Journal_mental health check

Gentle stretching and long shower

Protein rich brunch

Studied Gradient Descent __2P

Loss function __2P

Language P

called home

watched Run Jin Variety Show Extravaganza

Note to self: No self-hatred is allowed! u r doing what u can!

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

"What do you mean their name isn't Beef?"

(for @moondal514)

[inkyami]

Kaeru nyōbō (蛙女房) — "frog wive", a shapeshifting character in Japanese folklore. The frog turns into a woman in order to marry a human man, but retains some of her froggy qualities — Kaeru nyōbō is very fragile, small, and is unable to do heavy work due to her little strength. The life with her can be perfectly ordinary and peaceful, unless the curiosity of a husband & family discovers her true nature, and she hops away.

The stories about frog wives exist all over Japan with some variations of the plot. The motive itself — of a girl "with a secret" and a family ruined by prying into it — seems to be extremely popular in Japanese folklore in general.

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[thesecrethistori-an]

PhD Day 38 (yesterday): this time for real, I finished doing all the changes my supervisor suggested so I have finally fully submitted my grant proposal!

[kiinaya]

You're tired but you have goals to reach and places to be!