Native Bees Presentation

Did you know bumble bees pollinate a third of the food on your plate? Join us to explore groundbreaking research on how human land use — from farmland to suburbs — shapes the foraging, nesting, and survival of these vital pollinators, and what that means for the future of conservation.

Presenter Bio

Dr. Kelsey Schoenemann (she|they) is a recent graduate from the University of Virginia’s Environmental Sciences Department, where her doctoral research combined field observations, spatial datasets, and molecular genetics to explore the linkages between land use and bumble bee foraging and fitness. Prior to UVA, Kelsey interned with Virginia Working Landscapes and the Piedmont Environmental Council, facilitating biological surveys and outreach efforts in support of native species conservation. They earned their MSc in Biology from Queen’s University in Ontario, and their BSc in Wildlife Conservation from Virginia Tech. In that time, she studied the hormone physiology of black-capped chickadees and other vertebrates, and investigated the relationship between land cover and piping plover home range size. They currently live in Charlottesville, VA, where they are applying for local jobs and attending monthly queer book club and writing group meetings. They are also known to spend time outside watching the birds, bugs, and bees, and inside watching TV shows and movies or reading non-fiction and sci-fi.