Pollinators, and bees in particular, play a key role in agricultural production. Reduced food production and consequently large economic losses have recently been registered in many part of the world due to a dramatic decline in bee numbers. These reductions are likely to be the result of simultaneous multifactorial interactions between a variety of biological, chemical and physical stressors, as recently highlighted by the European Food Safety Authority and the US Environmental Protection Agency. This PhD project aims to understand how the simultaneous effects of a novel combination of stressors, specifically electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and pesticides impact on bees.

We have preliminary evidence that shows that transient exposure to EMF at levels found around power transmission lines can significantly affect learning and memory in bees. In the UK there are currently 22,600km of high voltage national grid lines, with plans to increase the this as a result of an increase in wind generation, leading to increases in the north-to-south transmission requirement to meet Southern demand (National Grid, 2015). Given that bees can fly regularly up to 1.5km this means that up to 28% of land in the UK is within bee foraging range of power transmission lines that produce the high levels of EMFs that could affect their ability to learn and remember the location of food resources. Globally, the presence of overhead power lines is on the increase and this infrastructure development needs to be managed sustainably to reduce the potential for impact on ecosystems and the environment.

The student will build on our preliminary analyses to ask how EMF impacts on behaviour, cognition, immunity and neurochemistry in the bee and will combine this with an analysis of the simultaneous and synergistic effect of pesticides as an additional stressor. The results of the work will help inform the planning and design of the power system infrastructure.