Cerro Coso Student Presentation Creates a ‘Buzz’

Five Cerro Coso students presented their group research work at the Native Bee Presentation Conference on Aug. 3 at the College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita.

Lezly Albro, Aria Ayres, Elajae Lee, Lacy Roberts, and Maya Wicker delivered a presentation titled “Bees and Blooms: Discovering Native Bees in the High Desert and Their Floral Favorites,” which showed that the arid desert environment is a biodiversity hotspot for native bees.

The students spent the summer capturing and identifying native bee genera, documenting their abundance and distribution, and identifying the floral hosts that supported them. This research, conducted under the guidance of Professors Guck Ooi and Claudia Sellers, is part of a larger project involving many community colleges in California and Arizona and is funded by the National Science Foundation.

Over 20 bee genera were discovered this summer alone, including several rare and desert-specific bees such as the Crotch’s bumblebee, which is currently classified as endangered.

The presentation also highlighted the complex preference relationships of bees for native and non-native plant species, resulting in valuable data for ongoing efforts to conserve these essential pollinators.

At the conference, organizers stressed the threats native bees face, such as habitat loss, pesticides, and climate change, while emphasizing community actions like creating pollinator-friendly gardens to help protect these vital species.

The students’ findings will be submitted to a publicly available scientific database, adding to the growing body of knowledge on native bees in the high desert.

“Bee-Aware.”

Caption: (l-r) Elajae Lee, Lacy Roberts, Aria Ayres, Lezly Albro and Profs. Guck Ooi and Claudia Sellers at the Native Bee Presentation Conference on Aug. 3 at the College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita. Maya Wicker is not pictured.