Bee Suitability Research

Throughout my senior year of high school, I worked on an independent research project involving the suitability of bees in my hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania. The project was completed through my AP Research class, and it really kickstarted my excitement to continue to pursue research in college.

The original idea for the project began in my AP Seminar class my junior year when I did some preliminary research on bees in urban environments. I was fascinated to learn that urban environments can actually serve as havens for bees with adequate greenspace. Bee species diversity and richness tend to increase in urban environments, with only abundance being low. This would then imply that having habitat, food resources, and greenspace for bees could increase abundance.

My project aimed to predict the bee suitability of Erie City using a GIS analysis and community leader mindset assessment. I analyzed three maps focusing on greenspace vs. impervious surface, vegetation density, and pollinator point connectivity and compared the results to the patterns of common bee species in Erie.

I learned a lot while working on this project, and I’m currently attempting to publish my final paper. This post will continue to be updated as I work through that process.