Bee researcher and former editor of both American Bee Journal and Bee World. Like many key researchers, she is a post-doctoral graduate of Dennis van Engelsdorp’s bee lab at the University of Maryland. She specialized in research on how pesticides impact honey bee health. She will offer several talks on everything from varroa management to simple basic beekeeping to easy queen breeding for the hobbyist.
Kirsten received the prestigious German Chancellor Scholarship from the Humboldt Foundation in 2006-2007, annually awarded to ten American leaders in their field. She drove over 50,000 miles throughout Western Europe to study the differences between European and American beekeeping, reporting her findings through 50+ published articles in national and international magazines. At the same time, she interviewed scientists and medical doctors, gathering information for her book: Two Million Blossoms: Discovering the Medicinal Benefits of Honey.
Fascinated with the social complexity of a honey bee hive, Kirsten earned her PhD in biology from Arizona State University. While a grad student, she spent almost a year in Avignon, France in the lab of Dr. Yves Le Conte as a Fulbright Fellow. She then investigated how pesticides impact honey bee health as a post doc at the University of Maryland in the lab of Dr. vanEngelsdorp. From 2015-2017 she edited Bee World, published by the International Bee Research Association. She edited American Bee Journal, a monthly magazine published since 1861 that is devoted to educating beekeepers. She’s currently a fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin, Germany.
