The effects of multiple stressors on Bees.

Pollinators, and bees in particular, play a key role in agricultural production. Reduced food production and consequently large economic losses have recently been registered in many part of the world due to a dramatic decline in bee numbers. These reductions are likely to be the result of simultaneous multifactorial interactions between a variety of biological, chemical and physical stressors, as recently highlighted by the European Food Safety Authority and the US Environmental Protection Agency. This PhD project aims to understand how the simultaneous effects of a novel combination of stressors, specifically electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and pesticides impact on bees.

We have preliminary evidence that shows that transient exposure to EMF at levels found around power transmission lines can significantly affect learning and memory in bees. In the UK there are currently 22,600km of high voltage national grid lines, with plans to increase the this as a result of an increase in wind generation, leading to increases in the north-to-south transmission requirement to meet Southern demand (National Grid, 2015). Given that bees can fly regularly up to 1.5km this means that up to 28% of land in the UK is within bee foraging range of power transmission lines that produce the high levels of EMFs that could affect their ability to learn and remember the location of food resources. Globally, the presence of overhead power lines is on the increase and this infrastructure development needs to be managed sustainably to reduce the potential for impact on ecosystems and the environment.

The student will build on our preliminary analyses to ask how EMF impacts on behaviour, cognition, immunity and neurochemistry in the bee and will combine this with an analysis of the simultaneous and synergistic effect of pesticides as an additional stressor. The results of the work will help inform the planning and design of the power system infrastructure.

The CDT in Sustainable Infrastructure Systems will deliver the next generation of world leading engineers and scientists needed to supply critical Energy, Water, and Transport infrastructure to maintain UK competitiveness. The CDT will bridge the skills gap in the identified areas by training engineers to meet this challenge. Legacies lasting beyond the life-time of the CDT will be built in relation to the cohort, training, inspiration, and research.

Five cohorts of 12 highly talented graduates will enter the job market having been equipped with the skills required to meet the challenge posed. Transferable skills will include leadership, innovation and creativity, high level communication, broad understanding of sustainable infrastructure systems, and the ability to work as part of a network to solve problems defined at the interdisciplinary interface. Each graduate will exhibit a suite of technical competencies which when aggregated across the entire cohort will represent an internationally-leading cutting-edge skill base to rival the best in the world. The strength of the network formed will be greater than the sum of the individual parts and will provide the capability needed to meet "Big Challenges" that are difficult to address by individuals or small isolated groupings. The formation of the community represents the cohort legacy of the CDT.

The CDT, in collaboration with industry partners, Creativity@Home, and international training partners will provide a test-bed for innovation in training. Best practice will be developed and efforts made to constantly reflect on training needs and methods of provision as part of an incremental process of training advancement throughout the life-time of the Centre. Best practice will be passed on to the wider student community through influencing and enhancing the overall educational culture. Similarly, the industry sectors and international collaborators will benefit as the current staff base of the partners will learn new skills from our students during industry placement, and may also attend elements of the training programmes to upgrade their skills. The influence of the CDT will continue for years to come, and represents the training legacy.

Through outreach and public / political engagement the CDT is not only intended to inform and transfer knowledge (in both directions), but also inspire the wider community beyond the University of Southampton, while simultaneously influencing research direction and providing reality checks. Undergraduates mentored by dynamic and talented researchers will be more likely to follow a career path in engineering or science. The interests of school children, especially girls, currently under-represented in engineering and science, will be captured through participation in outreach events led by the cohort. Alumni engineers and scientists and industrial partners working on the ground will be enthused and excited by the new skills developed and transferred from academia to application. This will be the legacy of inspiration.

The CDT will produce 180 man years of cutting-edge research. Students will be supervised by internationally recognised research leaders, and international training partners, in an enhanced student training environment using state-of-the-art experimental infrastructure and techniques at a new Engineering campus. The research projects will aim to solve real life problems identified in collaboration with industry. Based on past success rates, the CDTs legacy in research will be immense. Impact will be achieved through publication of ~240 high impact articles (on average four per project authored by students and supervisory staff) in internationally respected journals, technical reports to industry, conference papers, influencing technical design guidelines and standards, publication on CDT and University web-sites, and dissemination through blogs, twitter, etc. This will be the CDT's research legacy.