FW-HTF-P: Data Science to Save Bees and Transform the Future Work of Beekeepers

世界正面临着一场日益严重的蜜蜂危机，人类消费的每三口食物中就有一口是由蜜蜂授粉的。由于蜂群衰竭失调、入侵螨（varroa destructor）、杀虫剂的使用和单一栽培农业的兴起，蜜蜂正以前所未有的速度死亡。传统的养蜂方法已经无法阻止蜂群崩溃的浪潮。传粉昆虫的减少也威胁到经济稳定。自1987年以来，美国蜂蜜产量急剧下降，农作物授粉成本攀升。面对这种情况，养蜂业劳动力的未来面临着风险。养蜂工作的一个更好的未来将涉及掌握研究驱动的实践，这些实践对不同景观中的蜜蜂健康做出反应，并部署技术来监测蜂巢的健康和行为。该项目涉及规划一种多学科方法，以提高养蜂技能和改造养蜂业，并教育未来的养蜂人。该项目是乔治梅森大学教育与人类发展学院和商学院（乔治梅森大学蜜蜂计划所在地）以及许多养蜂和数据科学专家的共同努力。该项目正在研究如何在蜂巢中部署传感器，以生成数据群体健康与温度，声学活动，重量，振动，二氧化碳，湿度和太阳辐射的措施，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用评估来支持。基金会的学术价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

The world faces a worsening crisis for the bees that pollinate one in every three bites of food that humans consume. Due to colony collapse disorder, invasive mites (varroa destructor), use of pesticides, and the rise of monoculture farming, honey bees are dying at unprecedented rates. Traditional approaches to beekeeping have been unable to stem the tide of colony collapse. The decline in pollinators also threatens economic stability. U.S. honey production since 1987 has declined precipitously and the costs of crop pollination have climbed. In the face of this situation, the future of the beekeeping workforce faces is at risk. A better future of work for beekeeping will involve mastering research-driven practices that respond to bee health in different landscapes, and that deploy technology to monitor bee hive health and behavior. This project involves planning for a multidisciplinary approach to upskill and transform beekeeping and the education of future beekeepers. The project is a joint effort of the George Mason University College of Education and Human Development and the School of Business (that houses the George Mason University Honey Bee Initiative), and many experts on beekeeping and data science. The project is studying how to deploy sensors in hives to generate data colony health with measures of temperature, acoustic activity, weight, vibration, CO2, humidity, and solar radiation, and is designing a cloud computing capacity to integrate the hive sensor data with field data to scientifically describe pollinator and ecosystem health.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.