[PCA] COURSE: Eastern North American Bee ID Workshop 10-14 Dec '07 (Beltsville, MD)

[Olivia Kwong]

----- Forwarded Message -----

Greetings:

Rob Jean (Missouri Department of Conservation) and Sam Droege (USGS 
Patuxent Wildlife Research Center)  will again be hosting a bee 
identification workshop at USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center.  The 
dates for this Fall's workshop will be December 10-14, 2007.  Pertinent 
information is attached below.  Similar to last year there is no charge 
and participants are accepted on a first-come first-serve basis.  The 
emphasis is on learning to identify Eastern North American bees to 
species. There are currently 8 slots open.

Email me if you have questions.

Thanks

sam


Sam Droege  Sam_Droege at USGS.GOV
w 301-497-5840 h 301-390-7759 fax 301-497-5624
USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
BARC-EAST, BLDG 308, RM 124 10300 Balt. Ave., Beltsville, MD  20705
Http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov

"It's a good thing we don't get all the government we pay for." Will 
Rogers

Native Bee Identification Workshop

Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Laboratory
USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
Laurel, Maryland

December 10 - December 14

Sam Droege
USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center

Rob Jean
Missouri Department of Conservation

Objectives:  Our overall objective is to create a pool or researchers, 
technicians, and advanced amateurs who can accurately identify bees for 
both their studies and more importantly for others, whether for pay or 
not.   Lack of institutional identification experience has led to many 
errors in native bee research and monitoring and currently limits the 
creation of any extensive monitoring programs.  The status of most bee 
populations is currently completely unknown.  Participants in this 
workshop can change that.

Number of participants:  10

Facilities:  Our laboratory is located on the campus of the USDA 
Beltsville Research Center.  The agriculture campus is approximately 
24,000 acres of agriculture, research facilities, and native habitats. 
Patuxent Wildlife Research Center and National Wildlife Refuge are 
immediately adjacent and represent another 15,000 acres of high quality 
bee habitat.  We will be using our lab room, which houses our collection 
and specimens and another lab room nearby for expansion space. 
Participants will have complete access to the collection, computers, and 
instructors throughout the time.  Additionally, we have a large collection 
of surplus bees that are available to all participants to take back with 
them.

Cost and Daily Logistics:  There is no cost to attend this workshop. 
Lodging and food costs are borne by the participants.  In the building 
there is a complete kitchen with stove, microwave, and refrigerators. 
There are a variety of restaurants nearby that will deliver ethnic and 
traditional food.

Coffee will be available at all times!


Daily Schedule:  A combination of lab, talks, discussions, and lots of 
microscope and guide work.  Microscope work and identification guides will 
be emphasized.


The lab will be open throughout the day and night; the instructors will 
arrive before 9:00 a.m. At 9:00 a.m. each day we will meet and discuss the 
options for the day and the remainder of the week.

In addition to plenty of time investigating specimens under microscopes, 
the following topics will be covered during twice daily talks/discussions:

December 10 - Introduction to bee terminology, identification strategies, 
genera characteristics, genera gestalts, microscope use

December 11 - Introduction to bowl trapping, netting, processing of 
specimens, databasing, information and collection management

December 12 - Genera life histories, relative abundance, distribution

December 13 - Work on specimens - Supper and party at Sam's

December 14 - Survey Techniques - Work on specimens and wrap-up

Daily Schedule:

9:00 a.m. - Participants work with specimens and guides with instructor's 
guidance

10:30 a.m. - Lecture by Sam Droege or Rob Jean on issues of bee taxonomy, 
bee natural history, statistical sampling, bee identification work, field 
techniques

Noon - Lunch

1:00 p.m. - Participants work with specimens and guides with instructor's 
guidance

2:30 p.m. - Another lecture by Sam Droege or Rob Jean on issues of bee 
taxonomy, bee natural history, statistical sampling, bee identification 
work, field techniques

3:30 - 6:00 p.m. - Participants work with specimens and guides with 
instructor's guidance


Directions and a map to Patuxent are at the link below, but please note 
you will want to go to the Beltsville Laboratory not the Main Campus.  We 
are in room 124 and you do not need to get a visitor's pass as indicated:

http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/aboutus/direct.cfm

Local lodging is listed at the web site below:

http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/aboutus/lodging.cfm

Things to bring:

* Specimens you would like to identify
* Pins
* Specimen Boxes - Specimen boxes and pins will be available for a small 
fee

* Note that we will have at least 4 very high quality microscopes here as 
well as 6 of the standard type of microscopes and lights.  You may want to 
bring your own microscope and light both because it will be familiar to 
you and because it may be better than our standard scopes.

* If you have them: Michener et al.'s book on the Bee Genera of North 
America (available for sale at www.knoxcellars.com) and, in particular, 
Mitchell's 2 volumes on the Bees of the East (out of print but sometimes 
available via used book stores) will be useful.  Single copies of both 
will be available.

Contact Information:

Please contact Sam Droege at:
Work 301-497-5840
Home 301-390-7759
sdroege at usgs.gov