Dr. Jon Zawislak
Dr. Jon Zawislak is an assistant professor of apiculture and urban entomology for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. He has worked and played with honey bees since 1998, and is equally at home in the bee yard, the laboratory or the classroom. Each year he presents lectures, workshops and short courses for new and experienced beekeepers throughout Arkansas and beyond. His teaching emphasizes the biology and behavior of honey bees as the cornerstones of keep them productive and healthy. He also spreads the word about the importance of pollinators to the non‐ beekeeping public. Jon has a background in botany and entomology, and is a certified Master Beekeeper through the Eastern Apiculture Society. He and his family operate Walnut Valley Honey Farm in Little Rock, Arkansas, producing good products from the hive and supplying pollinators for area community gardens.
Dr. Cameron Jack
Cameron has been interested in beekeeping since his youth and now teaches several courses related to honey bees and apiculture at the University of Florida. His goal is to create an educational program that prepares students for the many challenges associated with beekeeping and to train those interested in entering the beekeeping workforce.
Garett Slater
Garett Slater, Ph.D., leads the statewide Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Apiary Program and supervises the activities of three honey bee program specialists in Dallas, Angleton, and San Antonio. As the Honey Bee Extension Specialist at Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, his primary role is to deliver extension services and applied research tailored to the needs of beekeepers, promoting sustainable practices and economic development of beekeepers. This includes communication and involvement with beekeepers via webinars and presentations, specialized courses, and articles. The topics of these communications range broadly, including fundamental scientific concepts and practical areas of interest. Additionally, he manages the Texas Master Beekeeper Program, which offers training modules for beekeepers across Texas. His one interest in extension and applied research focuses on honey bee breeding and genetics, which are key components of sustainable integrated pest management and honey bee population health. Presently, he is leading a study to develop modern breeding tools with the aim of helping breeders enhance the health and survival of honey bee colonies.
Dr. Slater obtained his PhD from Purdue University in 2022, with a thesis focused on applying modern genetic tools to honey bee breeding. He is currently Previously, he completed a MS in Nutrition and Queen Quality at North Dakota State University. Garett’s research at USDA focused on developing genomic tools for beekeeping, including selecting for natural defenses towards Varroa, pathogens, and other diseases. He has worked as a scientist and technician with the Bee Informed Partnership at the University of Minnesota for two years, directly supporting 30 commercial beekeepers in North Dakota. Garett has 12 years of beekeeping experience, including 8 years working for a large commercial beekeeper in North Dakota.
Krispn Given is the Senior Apiculture Specialist in the Department of Entomology at Purdue University. His journey with beekeeping began at the age of nine, working alongside his father. Today, he is recognized as a leading international authority in the fields of instrumental insemination and honey beebreeding. He has been breeding bees for 29 years, conducting research with 100-300 colonies to improve honey bee health through selective breeding paradigms. He oversees the honey bee breeding program at Purdue University and manages the honey bee laboratory’s extension and student research activities.
He teaches two advanced courses each year, one in queen rearing and the other in instrumental insemination, attracting students worldwide. His current research focuses on identifying, selecting, and enhancing honey beestock with increased levels of behavioral resistance to the varroa mite. He was instrumental in the pioneering work developing the “Indiana Mite-biter” honey bee strain, demonstrating that bees that groom themselves free of mites also bite more mites when groomed off the adult bees. This trait benefits beekeepers by reducing winter mortality through improved mite resistance.
He has been involved in several research projects at Purdue over the past twenty years and is an author and co-author of numerous publications, books, and scientific and trade journal articles. His work has led to the design of innovative instrumental insemination devices made in America. He has received numerous awards and honors for his contributions, including the prestigious Rodger A. Morse Outstanding Teaching Extension Regulatory Award in 2023. He is a past president of the Heartland Honey Bee Breeders Cooperative.
Diane Cox-Foster
Dr. Cox-Foster's focus is on understanding the mechanisms underlying host/pathogen interactions in honey bees and other pollinators. Her research utilizes a systems biology approach, examining the interactions at multiple levels including the molecular processes in the pollinator, the genomics of the pathogens, impacts on cellular physiology and immunity, and overall impacts on ecological interactions. Her work focuses primarily on honey bees and with extensions of the findings into other pollinator species. Her expertise includes the viral pathogens that infect bees and other pollinators and the impacts of varroa mites. She is also collaborating in projects to transition her research into application to remediate problems in honey bees and other pollinators, with emphasis on controlling viral disease via the mites and development of disease resistant bee strains.
Dr. David Peck
Dr. Peck is the Director of Research and Education at Betterbee in Greenwich, NY, where he assists in product development and research, and also teaches classes and develops scientifically-sound educational materials. His doctoral work in Cornell University's Department of Neurobiology and Behavior was supervised by Professor Tom Seeley. His dissertation research focused on the transmission of mites between bee colonies, as well as the mite-resistance traits of the untreated honey bees living in Cornell's Arnot Forest.
After earning his degree, he has continued to research varroa/bee interactions, including fieldwork in Newfoundland, Canada (where varroa still have not arrived) and Anosy Madagascar (where varroa arrived only in 2010 or 2011). He has served as a teaching postdoctoral fellow in Cornell's Department of Entomology, and is still affiliated with Cornell through the Honey Bee Health program in the College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Peck has kept bees for more than a decade, though his home apiary is often full of mite-riddled research colonies so he doesn't usually produce much honey.
Steve Jimenez founded Hives for Heroes in 2018.
Hives for Heroes is a national military veteran non-profit organization focusing on honey bee conservation and a healthy transition from service. Through the national network of beekeepers and veterans they provide connection, purpose, and healthy relationships fostering a lifelong hobby in beekeeping.
Hives for Heroes started in late 2018 in Houston, Texas with a small team of dedicated volunteers who have become family. They have quickly grown into a nationwide organization, in all 50 states, seeking to serve the next veteran in their local community. https://www.hivesforheroes.com/
In 2019, Steve also founded rūtd - An enterprise software and mobile application solution connecting veterans and resources, in a single click, to end veteran suicide.