Recent work shows a decline in pollinators necessary for the reproduction and productivity of wild plants and crops. The current agricultural environment contribute to this decline because it does not provide the habitat and nutrition to sustain pollinator’s productivity depends in part. As part of the resource project 'Agriculture and Pollinators' funded by the Office of Agriculture, the effectiveness of agro-ecological measures to protect the pollination service by bees will be evaluated. These measures to increase the nutritional offer for honeybees in an agricultural environment that is generally deficient in pollen and nectar during certain periods of the season and decrease their exposure to pesticides products that pose a risk for their health. The scientific follow-up of this life-size test is intended to measure the effectiveness of the measures. It will have to allow agricultural sector to improve practices and make them more sustainable.

In my PhD project, my general goal is to see if the different agro-ecological measures have an impact on honeybees. We will follow 300 beehives in two sectors in Switzerland: Canton of Jura and Canton of Vaud. We will follow the bee population, the various pathogens of the bee; the pollen, honey and soil residues as well as the floristic environment around the apiaries.

I started my PhD in April 2018 under the joint supervision of Dr.Alexandre Aebi and Dr.Vincent Dietemann in the Laboratory of Soil Biodiversity in Neuchâtel University and with the Agroscope Center in Bern.

Education and work experience

2018

PhD: impact of agro-ecological measures on honeybees, A.mellifera

2017

Member of working research group of the non-governmental organization “Desarrolo Central de Apoyo Educativo e Investigación Apícola (ONG CEIAP)”, Universidad de Chile –Santiago

2014-2016

Beekeeping experiment missions responsable in ADAPI (Association pour le Développement de l’Apiculture en Provence) – INRA Avignon, South of France

2012-2014

Master in Ecology and biodiversity in Montpellier University – South of France

2009-2011

Bachelor in organismal biology and ecology in Montpellier University – South of France

Publication

Maisonnasse A, Hernandez J, Le Quintrinc C, Cousin M, Beri C, Kretzschmar A. (2017) Evaluation de la structure des colonies d’abeilles, creation et utilisation de la methode ColEval (Colony Evaluation). Innovations Agronomiques 53,27- 37

Le Goff G., Hernandez J., Zumbo B., Robert V.(2012) A new species of Aedes (Stegomyia) from Mayotte French over- sea Department in the Indian Ocean, Poster E-SOVE program (European Society for Vector Ecology), Montpellier October 2012