Entomological Society of Canada – C. Gordon Hewitt Award

Sheila Colla

Sheila Colla is the 2021 recipient of the Entomological Society of Canada’s C. Gordon Hewitt Award. This award is given annually to an individual judged to have made an outstanding contribution to entomology in Canada, and who received their PhD within the preceding 12 years.

Dr Colla is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University. She is the author of numerous peer-reviewed papers (40), books (2), and book chapters (2) that have amassed >2990 citations. Dr Colla has supervised 17 graduate students and 3 honours students, and has won over $2 million in grants, awards, and fellowships. She is a world leader in the conservation of pollinators, particularly bumblebees, and she has successfully translated her research into political action and policy changes. Moreover, Dr Colla has used her platform as one of Canada’s leading biodiversity researchers to advocate for equity, inclusion, and diversity in all aspects of her career and life.

Dr Colla’s PhD research combined field collections and observational data with museum specimen data ranging back nearly 100 years to document the precipitous decline of several bumblebee species in Canada, particularly the rusty-patched bumblebee, Bombus affinis. Dr Colla’s research has also explored causative agents for these observed declines, and her work on the biology and health of B. affinis resulted in her being awarded the opportunity to produce the COSEWIC status report for this species while she was still a PhD student. This report and Dr Colla’s research contributions were directly responsible for the rusty-patched bumblebee becoming the first hymenopteran pollinator to be listed under the Canadian Species At Risk Act as a Schedule 1 protected species, officially listed as Endangered in 2012. Following the listing of the rusty-patched bumblebee, Dr Colla continued her research and advocacy for this and other Canadian bumblebees, providing primary data for an international collaborative framework for studying and understanding the impacts of global climate change on the distribution and conservation of bumblebees. She and her collaborators have shown that bumblebee ranges in both North America and Europe are shrinking in response to climate change and have investigated the mechanisms contributing to bumblebee declines.

Dr Colla’s dedication to bumblebee biology and conservation extends well beyond the academy. She has co-authored two award-winning books on the bumblebees of North America, which make bumblebee identification available and accessible to more than just specialists. She has partnered with non-profit organizations such as the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation and Wildlife Preservation Canada as a Founding Partner of the Bumblebee Watch program, which has recruited nearly 5,000 backyard bumblebee scientists to share observations and records of bumblebees since its launch in 2014. Dr Colla and her students are also exploring the impact that participant involvement in community science has on both natural history research and on public understanding and appreciation for biodiversity, including impacts on support for new governmental policies relating to pollinator health and conservation. While maintaining a world-class scientific research program, Dr Colla also makes time to communicate the importance of insect pollinators with the public, through outreach events and media interviews. She has connected with an estimated 10,000 individuals (both adults and children) by giving 87 public talks and workshops since 2015. Dr Colla has also made numerous appearances advocating for bees and other pollinators in printed news and on television and radio programs in Canada and the United States.

In summary, Dr Colla has made outstanding contributions to entomological research, conservation, education, and outreach in Canada and beyond. Her dedication to translating her research into political advocacy and action, communicating science in accessible formats like field guides, and involvement of community members in research all have made important, tangible impacts on insect conservation and the public perception of insects.