Kimberly Chacon

Kimberly Chacon

Position Title
Ph.D.

Bio

Summary Academic Interest: 

I am interested in preserving and encouraging bee populations, especially native bees. In recent years the call to action for bee conservation has been loud and clear. To date the main emphasis has been on European honey bees, which are known for their great crop pollination benefits. However, with Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) still ravaging honeybee populations, the future of such pollination services seems unclear. Dependence on native bees has been suggested as a possible solution, but HOW to implement such a scheme is largely vague. Lack of habitat connectivity is listed under nearly every possible source and yet thus far solutions only include specialist gardens or randomly spaced unspecified plant species of home plantings. A spatial habitat problem such as destruction and/or fragmentation NEEDS a spatial solution. I am working on solving this complex problem with the help of GIS.