The National Science Foundation recently awarded Dr. Katja Seltmann's proposal titled, Extending Anthophila Research Through Image and Trait Digitization (Big-Bee), with a 3-year, $1.2M grant. 

Dr. Seltmann and her colleagues aim to produce over one million high-resolution 2D and 3D images of bee specimens, representing over 5,000 worldwide bee species, including most of the major pollinating species. Images will be will be available for novel exploration in bee traits, 3D modeling, and computer vision research. The goal is to measure bee traits from these images, to increase our understanding of the pollinators' decline in numbers and diversity, and to learn more about what makes bees more vulnerable to human-induced environmental changes. The project will also improve the status quo of artificial intelligence identification tools for observing and monitoring bees, and will provide opportunities for outreach and education on the future of the world's pollinators. 

In the figure shown below, downloaded from the BISS abstract on the project, two representations of a 3D model are shown with a dark grey background. This model is generated from 64 focal stacked 2D images taken at different angles. A subset of those 2D images is pictured here with a light blue background. Both 3D models and the 2D images used to create the models will be shared by the project.

The Big-Bee Thematic Collection Network (Big-Bee TCN) includes 13 institutions and partnerships with US government agencies. Moreover, the grant will provide the UCSB Data Science community with access to large datasets and opportunities for novel environmental data science research. The full abstract can be found at nsf.gov. Read the proposal at escholarship.org.