This episode looks at the essential role of insects in agriculture, specifically as pollinators. 

We will talk to Dr Dara Stanley an entomologist based in the UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science with a special interest in the interaction between pollinating insects and plants. Dara has recently received two very prestigious awards, in October she received The British Ecological Society Early Career Award and last month she was awarded Science Foundation Ireland’s Early Career Researcher of the Year.

Dr Brian Tobin is a Forestry lecturer in the School with a lifelong interest in honey bees and is the beekeeper on campus, and he’ll be telling us about the fascinating life in the hive. Although UCD is based in a city, there is a significant space on campus called Rosemount Environmental Research Station where staff and students can investigate the interactions between soil, plants, and insects such as research honey bees, bumblebees, and the many species of solitary bees and hoverflies which are responsible for pollinating plants and providing us with food.