Stephen Fry Award 2014 for neuroscientist attempting to arrest decline in bee numbers
Published On Fri 10 Jan 2014 by Grant Hill
Photo opportunity: 3.45pm on Friday, 10th January at Dalhousie Building. Dr Connolly will receive his award.
The University of Dundee's Stephen Fry Award for Excellence in Public Engagement with Research 2014 has been won by a neuroscientist who has significantly enhanced our knowledge of the threats faced by the world's bee populations.
Dr Christopher Connolly, a Reader in the Division of Neuroscience at the School of Medicine, will receive his award during the University's annual Discovery Days event on Friday, 10th January. The accolade recognises his role in working with external stakeholders during the course of his research as well as the enthusiasm he has displayed in disseminating the results to the public.
Dr Connolly investigates the chemistry behind nerve activity and the ability of the brain to adapt to our different physical and social environments. This has led to work exploring how alterations in nerve cells can relate to chronic neurological conditions, in both humans and insects. His recent research has focussed on insect pollinators that provide essential ecosystem services and make an estimated contribution of 216 billion dollars to worldwide economies every year while supporting the production of much of the World's food.
Dr Jon Urch, Public Engagement co-ordinator at the University, congratulated Dr Connolly on his award saying, "Chris Connolly has established himself as the UK's leading expert on bee biology and populations, but in order to do this he had to build relationships with a variety of stakeholders that has enabled him to carry out vitally important research.
'In addition, Dr Connolly has demonstrated a commitment to raising awareness about the risks associated with using pesticides and a willingness to engage with the public to illustrate the importance of this issue. The collaborative and interdisciplinary projects will hopefully help to arrest the decline in the number of pollinators and transform lives across the world.
'This approach marks out the University's approach to research and public engagement and Dr Connolly has made a very important contribution to a subject which affects us all - the future of our food security and our ability to feed a growing Global population.'
During 2013, Dr Connolly and his team found that a new parasite that threatens honeybees was widespread in Scotland, and carried out research into the failure of honeybee hives has led to a new collaboration with to analyse loses related to weather, geographical features and land use. Dr Connolly has also showed the potentially catastrophic problems that commonly used classes of pesticides, neonicotinoids and mitocides, cause both honeybees and bumblebees.
In carrying out these studies, he has worked with tirelessly with stakeholders, foremost among them the Scottish Beekeepers Association, to help him gather research data and also disseminate the results of his research directly to them to ensure it has immediate benefit.
To ensure these discoveries have a national and international impact, Dr Connolly has actively sought to engage with policymakers, advising the cross-party Environmental Audit Committee and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) on their new 'Pollinator Strategy'.
Closer to home, he has hosted several very popular public talks, including an update of his research during the Dundee Science Festival, and has contributed to the debate about the use of neonicotinoids across all media.
The Stephen Fry Award for Excellence in Public Engagement with Research celebrates the sharing of the world-class research carried out at Dundee with the wider public and is given to the researchers (or team) who have made the greatest contribution to public engagement in the past year.
For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277