Penn State hosts international pollinator conference

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s Center for Pollinator Research hosted the 2023 International Conference on Pollinator Biology, Health and Policy at University Park from June 3–6. Approximately 250 people from 15 countries, spanning universities, government agencies, industry, non-profit organizations and stakeholder groups, traveled to University Park to attend the conference.

The theme for this year's conference was understanding and leveraging networks to support pollinator health, from gene networks to ecological community networks, to scientific networks. Reflecting the multidisciplinary and global perspectives showcased by the breadth of the conference, the lead organizers for the conference were Christina Grozinger, Publius Vergilius Maro Professor of Entomology and director of Penn State’s Center for Pollinator Research; Alexandra Klein, chair of Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology at the University of Freiburg; and Michele Flenniken, associate professor and co-director for the Pollinator Health Center at Montana State University.

Since the inaugural international conference 13 years ago, there have been significant advances in the understanding of the drivers of pollinator declines, according to Grozinger. The tools to monitor and predict these declines, as well as strategies to conserve and expand both managed and wild pollinator populations have also progressed, she said.

"This was the first time we have been able to hold the conference since 2019,” Grozinger said. “It was such a pleasure and so inspiring to be together as a community, sharing our research, ideas and experiences, and developing new relationships and collaborations. We are so grateful to the support of Penn State Global and Penn State Ag Sciences Global for helping us bring our international colleagues to Penn State — we developed many new research and education projects which we will be pursuing in the future!”

The conference covered a range of topics, including mitigating the impacts of pathogens and parasites, deploying integrated pest and pollinator management to conserve pollinators and their ecosystem services in diverse landscapes, creating new tools for monitoring and mapping biodiversity, principles and practices for designing biodiverse communities, and evaluations of the manifold impacts of climate change on pollinator and insect communities. Ongoing national and global initiatives in policy, education and other work pursued by Penn State Extension were also highlighted.

Some of the international attendees included Klein and Andrew Shaw, from the University of Freiburg in Germany; Alan Dorin from Monash University in Australia; and Elfatih Abdel Rahman, from the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology in Kenya. Penn State Global and Penn State Ag Sciences Global supported their travel.

“We were so glad to support the conference attendance of these experts whose participation allowed for a discourse on significant global challenges, and who represent some of our key institutional global partners,” said Alexandra Persiko, associate director for Europe and Oceania partnerships.

The program included more than 50 talks and 100 posters of the course of four days. Additionally, seven associated short courses and workshops took place June 3-8. These included the Xerces-Penn State Pollinator Conservation Short Course, the Education about the Production and Insemination of Honey Bee Queens (EPIQ) Workshop, Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Pollinator Task Force, Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium, Raspberry Pi Short Course and Monash-Penn State Strategic Planning Group.

For additional information about partnerships in Europe and Oceania, please contact Persiko at axp1225@psu.edu or 1-814-867-5941.