Dr. Adam Dolezal, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Entomology at the University of Illinois, will talk about the “Interactive Effects of Environmental Stressors on Bees: Nutritional Physiology, Disease, and Landscape” at 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 16 at Illinois Wesleyan University in room C101 of the Center for Natural Sciences.  Recent years have seen an explosion of interest in the declines of pollinators. It has become clear across the world that a variety of factors interact to contribute to the losses of these beneficial insects, both in managed (e.g., honey bee hives) and natural (e.g., native bees) situations.  Dr. Dolezal is interested in how multiple environmental factors, specifically viral pathogens, nutritional deprivation, and pesticide exposure, interact to affect bee health in the real-world landscapes of the agricultural Midwest. This area is marked by some of the most intensive agriculture and highest crop yields in the world, which has resulted in a transformation of natural and semi-natural landscapes into efficient production of only a few crops.  This talk will be geared for science students, but non-science students are also encouraged to attend. Sponsored by the IWU Biology Department.