Sjef van der Steen

After 40 years in beekeeping research, I started my own company Alveus AB Consultancy. My expertise is in the field where environment and honeybees, bumble bees, and wild bees converge. With the ICPPR Bee Protection group we made, the first- and higher-tier toxicity OECD guidelines for testing the acute impact of pesticides on bumblebees Science is a public task, and involving the public in science is of major importance. The beekeepers´; citizen science is a very strong, most-needed tool to collect study data and to strengthen the interaction of beekeeping and science. My current professional activities are I: The coordination of the EU-funded INSIGNIA-EU study (2021 – 2024). A pan-European citizen science study with beekeepers to monitor the environment with honey bee colonies for pesticides, microplastics, heavy metals, and air pollutants. II: I am a member of the board of the Eva Crane Trust. III: I am a member of the scientific board of the EU-funded study: ETAIN about the possible biological effects of wireless technologies. IV: I am leading the citizen science study in the EU-funded BetterB study on bee-plant´s flowering periods and flower visits by honey bees, solitary bees, bumblebees, hoverflies, and other insects in a pan-European study set-up.