Human practices have brought about a sharp decline in bee health and populations. University of Minnesota entomologist Marla Spivak wants to reverse the trend.

>> Q&A with MacArthur “genius grant” recipient Marla Spivak

Last week, University of Minnesota entomologist Marla Spivak was awarded a $500,000 “genius grant” by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for her work with honey bees. (David Simon, creator of TV’s “The Wire” and “Treme,” was among the other 2010 recipients.) Spivak started studying bees at the age of 18; she’s now 55, and over the course of her career, bees have grown in economic importance as growing numbers have been trucked around the country to pollinate crops, including apples, blueberries, almonds, and countless other fruits and vegetables. Yet over the same period, the health of bees has seen a steady decline, culminating in the phenomenon known as “colony collapse disorder,” in which most bees within a colony simply disappear. (OnEarth first reported on this phenomenon in “The Vanishing” from our Summer 2006 issue.) Continue reading She’s a Genius for Honey Bees | OnEarth →