Profile

Hello:

I earned a Doctorate degree in 2014 from Bangor University Wales.   There I was part of a small team of academics and commercial beekeepers working towards enhancing local adaptation in the local honeybee population through breeding.

I took the lessons learned in Wales to Alaska, a region experiencing significant change in climate.  I have kept and raised bees here since 2014, but it is a challenging environment.  Summers are short, and although winters are on average warming, overwintering mortality can be high.  Such losses can be climate related, but varroa/pest loads can also play a significant role, especially during the second year of colony life.

I recently became a faculty member at Alaska Pacific University, where I currently teach Math, Biology, and Invertebrate Zoology.  My research goals include, among other things, establishing a local monitoring program to better educate the northern beekeeping community about the prevalence and influence of pests.

I am keen to try and establish a meaningful program here.  I am requesting to join the COLOSS community to learn and share.  One can feel pretty isolated up here.

Regards to you all

Ian Williams