Year Awarded 2017
FFAR award amount $546,511
Total award amount $1,093,084
Location Durham, NH
Program Pollinator Health Fund
Matching Funders Hamel Center for Undergraduate Research, UNH and UNH, College of Life Sciences and Agriculture
Grantee Institution University of New Hampshire
The University of New Hampshire researchers are creating the first comprehensive guide to wild bees found in New England. The project is classifying wild New England bees and developing resources to further education, including information on regionally specific planting recommendations and a bee identification course applicable to researchers in multiple states.
Grant OutcomeThis project advanced wild bee conservation by training future pollinator taxonomists, generating new scientific insights into the drivers of wild bee declines and developing practical tools to support pollinator-friendly land management. The research identified habitat features that support diverse bee populations including forest-farm edges, reduced mowing and lower-intensity agricultural practices, while producing the first comprehensive field guide to the wild bees of eastern North America, which has reached thousands of farmers, gardeners and conservation practitioners.