Introducing the 2022 PAm-Costco Canada Scholarship Award Winners!

This summer, Project Apis m. accepted applications for the PAm-Costco Canada Scholarship Awards for Honey Bee Health. These scholarships are for PhD students tackling research that has real and practical impacts on the sustainability of honey bee health, honey production and crop production.  

Investing in applied research remains a high priority across North America as  annual losses continue to squeeze beekeeping operations in the states, and as beekeepers in Canada are currently recovering from exceptionally high losses from the 2021-22 winter.   
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We are excited to announce the two newest awardees of this scholarship: Ana María Quiroga Arcila, and Tracey Smith, and warmly welcome them to the PAmily!  

Ana María Quiroga Arcila, PhD student, Laval University. 
Won: $60,000, furnished by Costco Canada. 
Co-advised by: Dr. Valérie Fournier, and Dr. Pierre Giovenazzo.  

Ana María Quiroga Arcila is pursuing her PhD in the Phytology Department at Laval University. She is co-advised by Dr. Valérie Fournier, and Dr. Pierre Giovenazzo. She will be researching stocking rates and blueberry pollination in Quebec. Her project is titled, “Optimization of Lowbush Blueberry Pollination by Honeybees and Bumblebees.” 

Ana María’s innate love for beekeeping made Ana start her empirical study on Africanized honeybees. This passion would become the motor that led her to explore deeper into the world of honeybees, stingless bees, and bumblebees and led her to create a local beekeeping association in Colombia in 2019. As a beekeeper, farmer, and agronomist, she is convinced that beekeeping and agroecology provide an effective way to reduce the deep inequalities that exist mainly in rural Colombia and to contribute to peacebuilding actively. 

 Ana started her Ph.D. in plant biology, under the direction of Dr. Valérie Fournier and the co-direction of Dr. Pierre Giovenazzo. The project aims to optimize pollination through bees and bumblebees in lowbush blueberry crops. Part of the research focuses on the impact of pollination on the health of bee colonies. Under her current study, Ana is monitoring health parameters such as colony weight and population, pesticide analysis, pathogen infestation rates of Nosema spp., Varroa destructor, Paenibacillus larvae, Melissococcus plutonius, Ascosphaera apis, and viruses such as DWV A and B, ABPV, IAPV, and BQCV.

​Her goal is to develop a model to inform the beekeeping industry on optimal colony management strategies for pollination services and to combat the high mortality rates faced in Quebec and Canada. 
With her Ph.D., she not only wants to greatly expand her knowledge in the field of bees but hopes to further contribute to the sustainable development of Quebec's rural communities and the construction of a fairer and more equitable society. 

Tracey Smith, PhD student, University of Alberta. 
Won: $60,000, furnished by Costco Canada. 
Advised by: Dr. Olav Rueppell 

Tracey Smith is pursuing her PhD at the University of Alberta. She is advised by Dr. Olav Rueppell. The focus of her research is relative humidity within bee colonies and it’s impact on Varroa and viral transmission. Her project is titled, “ The effect of hive relative humidity on Varroa destructor reproduction and viral infections.” 

Tracey Smith owned and operated Beanstalk Honey, a beekeeping and honey sales company, from 2010 to 2021. She is now researching honey bee health issues for her PhD. She is interested in how temperature and humidity may affect varroa and virus dynamics in colonies. Tracey lives on her farm east of Edmonton where she keeps goats, sheep, and chickens. 

To date, the PAm-Costco Canada Scholarship has invested $260,000 (CAD) in students in Canada. Costco has an admirable commitment to sustainability, and is a champion supporter of honey bee research, recognizing it as an investment to ensure an ethical and sustainable food supply. 

We look forward to working with Ana María, Tracey, and seeing what all of our Costco/Costco Canada Scholars achieve in the years to come!  

By: Grace Kunkel,  Communications Manager, Project Apis m.