Scholar's Award: A Social Scientific Study of how Stakeholders Produce Knowledge about the Cause and Treatment of Colony Collapse Disorder

蜂群衰竭失调症（Colony Collapse Disorder， CCD）是指在过去四年里，大量蜜蜂从蜂巢中消失，至今仍无法解释。CCD引起了公众的兴趣，但许多环保主义者和昆虫学家认为，这是所有传粉者物种（包括许多种类的本地蜜蜂、苍蝇和蝙蝠）更令人不安的下降的早期迹象。仅蜜蜂数量的持续减少就会对商业农业、粮食安全和环境产生重大影响，而传粉媒介物种的减少会产生更大的影响。本项目使用CCD作为案例研究，以完善我们对不同群体如何在科学不确定的情况下定义、产生和交流他们认为有效证据的理解。研究者将在几个蜜蜂研究实验室进行多地点的参与者人种志研究，与科学家、养蜂人和其他利益相关者进行开放式访谈，并对科学出版物和媒体报道进行文本分析，以研究这个问题。这个项目利用了一个独特的机会来记录一群科学家，他们正在研究一个具有社会重要性的新问题。对CCD研究领域不断发展的社会科学分析表明，现有的有争议疾病模型以及对科学和生态知识的情感成分的研究可以适应并应用于农业科学的研究。拟议的研究调查了关于蜂群崩溃失调（CCD）的知识是如何产生和继续产生的。它分析了CCD的原因是如何定义的，以及所提出的解决方案的社会和经济层面。CCD有可能成为具有广泛影响的重大社会和环境问题。社会科学的观点提供了对可能影响研究项目设计和执行的不同兴趣和价值观的见解。该研究项目有助于科学技术研究、社会学和人类学的学术研究，以及养蜂业、昆虫学和科学政策的受众。研究结果将导致广泛适用的最佳实践，以在自然科学家、社会科学家和公众成员之间建立成功的合作。

Colony Collapse Disorder [CCD] is the as-yet unexplained disappearance of large numbers of honeybees from their hives over the past four years. CCD has captured public interest, but many environmentalists and entomologists believe that it is an early indication of an even more troubling decline in all pollinator species, including many varieties of native bees, flies, and bats. A sustained decline in honeybees alone would have significant consequences for commercial agriculture, food security, and the environment, and a decline in pollinator species more broadly would have even more impact. This project uses CCD as a case study to refine our understanding of how different groups define, produce, and communicate what they see as valid evidence in situations of scientific uncertainty. The investigator will conduct a multi-sited participant ethnography at several bee research labs, open-ended interviews with scientists, bee keepers, and other stakeholders, and textual analysis of scientific publications and media coverage to study this issue. This project takes advantage of a unique opportunity to chronicle a group of scientists as they work on an emerging problem of societal importance. A social scientific analysis of the evolving research communities for CCD demonstrates how existing models of contested illnesses and studies of the affective components of scientific and ecological knowledge can be adapted and applied to a study of agricultural science. The proposed study investigates how knowledge about Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has been and continues to be produced. It analyzes how the cause of CCD is defined and the social and economic dimensions of proposed solutions. CCD has the potential to become a major social and environmental problem with wide-ranging effects. A social scientific perspective provides insights into the different interests and values that may affect the design and execution of research projects. The research project contributes to scholarship in science and technology studies, sociology, and anthropology, as well as audiences in apiculture, entomology and science policy. Research findings will lead to broadly applicable best practices for creating successful collaborations among natural scientists, social scientists, and members of the public.