GRADUATE TRAINING IN APPLIED INTEGRATIVE POLLINATOR ECOLOGY: MANAGING POLLINATORS AND LANDSCAPES FOR SUSTAINABLE ECOSYSTEMS SERVICES

Nearly 90% of flowering plant species and 75% of global agricultural food crops use animal-mediated pollination to set seed and produce fruit. These animal-pollinated crops, including most fruits, vegetables, and nuts, provide the majority of the micronutrients and plant-based fats needed in human diets, and thus are critical pillars in human nutrition. Pollination services contribute $25 billion to the US economy in terms of increased crop yield alone, with an addition $20 billion in value to agricultural-associated industrial sectors.However, there have been declines in populations of both wild and managed pollinators across the world. US beekeepers lose an average of 30% of their managed honey bee colonies each winter, and 25% during the summer months; 50% of wild bumble bee species are in decline in the US; and North American monarch butterfly populations have decreased by nearly 80% over the last 20 years. It is critical that we find approaches that will support abundant and diverse communities of pollinators in our agricultural lands to ensure robust and sustainable pollination services.Tackling the challenge of pollinator declines and ensuring sustainable, robust pollination ecosystems services across a diversity of agricultural crops and landscapes requires a holistic, trans-disciplinary approach, that seamlessly integrates basic and applied science with extension, education and outreach. It also requires a framework where scientific research interfaces with multiple stakeholder groups, including beekeepers, land managers, growers, industry groups and policymakers. We will leverage the strengths of the Penn State Center for Pollinator Research (CPR) and its associated graduate programs in Entomology and Ecology to provide broad, interdisciplinary training for graduate students. We will work with our Stakeholder Advisory Board to ensure students engage with current and emerging real-world challenges, and leverage expertise and infrastructure provided by these groups. Students will obtain valuable skills in communication and leadership through diverse extension, education and outreach activities at the local, regional, national and international levels, selecting activities that further their professional interests. These activities will ensure that the results of this program are broadly disseminated to diverse communities and audiences.The broad, trans-disciplinary training provided by this program will ensure that graduating students will not only be able to creatively and holistically tackle issues related to pollinators and pollination services, but will have a wealth of transferrable skills and expertise in sustainable agriculture, allowing them to address a myriad of current and emerging challenges in agriculture and conservation.