We hear a lot about the problems facing rust belt cities: shrinking populations, decaying infrastructure, vacant properties, and more. But to native bees, the rust belt is a refuge. These cities actually keep bee populations afloat, offering habitat and resources that allow us to continue enjoying the fruits, nuts, and flowers we love so dearly (many of which are ONLY pollinated by bees)!
Here in the Camilo Lab, we work to understand what bees need to continue thriving in urban and suburban spaces. We explore questions about urban bee diversity, plant-pollinator interactions, co-evolution, and adaptation, while promoting community-driven conservation and activism.
We help people help bees, knowing that when bees thrive, we thrive.
POLLINATOR POWER: Without bees, we wouldn't have fruits and vegetables. Bees need our help and they're getting a big boost in the city. St. Louis University students are surveying bees, in partnership with MDC. St. Louis is a hot spot for bees and a remnant prairie in Calvary Cemetery has the most species in the city. Photo: Doug Garfield / Universitas magazine
They are tough, resourceful, and find every conceivable way to make life in the city work. They make homes in messy lawns; feed on the weeds in sidewalk cracks; and scavenge every scrap of pollen in the vacant lots around town.
Our awesome former undergrads Jordyn and Jordan get their first publication!
Community orchards are spreading rapidly across St. Louis and a group of pollinator researchers want learn how to manage pollinators in order to improve harvest productivity.
Nina receives grant from the Missouri Conservation Federation.
The Ohio State University is hosting a pollinators in the city speaker series from November 29th through December 3rd at 10am EASTERN. The webinar series will focus on the biology and human dynamics of pollinator conservation in urban settings.
Gerardo Camilo is part of a team of researchers from UMSL, the Saint Louis Zoo, Webster University, Maryville University, and the Missouri Botanical Garden who were awarded a USDA grant to study pollinators in urban orchards
Sacha, Nina, Trey, and Gerardo teach the Audubon Society about the birds and the bees…and mosquitos too!
Congratulations to Madeleine on her award-winning undergraduate research project on Eastern carpenter bees (Xylocopa virginica) experiencing wing discoloration in St. Louis!
By 2050, two of every three people will live in a city. Thus, understanding how we can maintain ecosystem services within cities (such as the pollination of crops) is essential to our survival. Explore our work to understand community-driven conservation and activism in urban environments.
