this film was created with the goal of inspiring nuance in whatever stance you take on animals in the captivity of zoos & aquariums.

to watch the full short film, please click here.

as vallejo-marin spoke to the harvard scholars in late 2021 about his goal to use a vibrating source to conduct a controlled study on the characteristics of pollination in different species of bees, an eager hand shot up in the audience. the hand belonged to noah jafferis, ph.d., a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the university of massachusetts. jafferis felt that he could help vallejo-marin achieve his goal by using a completely novel bio-robotic bee to replicate certain types of pollination in experiments. vallejo-marin’s first thought was one of skepticism, as the two researchers come from entirely different scientific backgrounds, but the more they talked, the more they realized that their interests seem to intertwine perfectly.

in march 2022, within months of meeting each other, vallejo-marin and jafferis secured an $840,000 grant from the human frontier science program, an organization that promotes international interdisciplinary research related to living organisms.

“this is one of the best pieces of news that you can receive as a scientist,” vallejo-marin said, with excitement in his voice. “grant writing and getting funds in science is a very difficult process where there is a lot of chance, luck, and being in the right place at the right time.”

vallejo-marin’s biology lab in scotland is filled with the deafening sound of buzzing, which shakes the entire room with high-pitched vibrations. the source of this buzzing becomes clear as vallejo-marin walks over to a large tank in the corner of the lab, looking affectionately at the hundreds of yellow and black insects flying and landing on artificial flowers. the focus of this lab is buzz pollination, which is a fairly rare and under-researched type of bee pollination that is vital to the health and fertilization of over 20,000 plant species and crops across the globe.

“buzz pollination is used on many different plant species, including a number of crops that humans rely on for food sources such as tomatoes and blueberries,” vallejo-marin said. understanding how bees do it and which species do it could improve agriculture and help explain the importance of protecting rare species to maintain bee biodiversity.

not all bees buzz… pollinate

only certain bees can buzz pollinate, and only certain plants can be pollinated in this way. most bees pollinate by landing on flower petals and passively collecting pollen in the hairs on their bodies, which is then spread throughout the area as they fly. however, when the right kind of bee lands on the right kind of flower, the bee will contract the muscles in its thorax and start actively producing vibrations that make the entire flower shake. this motion causes the pollen grains inside to bounce back and forth and eventually shoot out of the flower.

“you can see a shower, almost like a jet stream of pollen coming out of the flower,” vallejo-marin said. “this happens in a fraction of a second, and it takes less than a hundred milliseconds for the bees to shake free thousands and thousands of pollen grains.”

the main challenge that vallejo-marin has faced throughout his research is determining the morphology of buzz pollinators. this information would allow him to decipher what enables buzz pollinators to biologically pollinate in this way, compared to species of bees that cannot produce buzz vibrations. 

“we know very little about what makes a bee buzz a certain way, whether it’s size or speed or ecology or a combination of all of those factors,” vallejo-marin said. he has found that it is extremely difficult to replicate the incredibly fast vibrations that a such a tiny insect produces on a flower. this is where dr. noah jafferis comes in, and this is where bee research will take a turn into the unknown.

creating the prototype

jafferis has been interested in bio-inspired microrobots since he was in graduate school at harvard university, where he helped develop a winged microrobot that was able to fly like a bee and simulate some of the aerodynamic aspects of insect flight. 

“the wings in those robo-bees were powered by piezoelectric actuators that bend back and forth, similar to the muscles that pull a bee’s wings back and forth,” jafferis said. “i realized that these same muscles also produce the vibrations for buzz pollination, and my microrobots may be able to help in mario’s research.”  

piezoelectric actuators are mechanical devices that take electrical energy and convert it directly into linear motion with high speed and force. unlike larger robotic mechanisms, these actuators would be able to vibrate the body of the micro-robotic bee with extreme accuracy and precision while still maintaining the weight and size of an actual bee. although the robo-bee pollinators are currently just prototypes, jafferis is confident that he will be ready to begin the coding process in the near future. 

over the next year, vallejo-marin will be using biomechanical equipment to analyze the buzz patterns of different bee species in his lab, even attempting to put tiny monitors directly on the bees to measure their movements during buzz pollination. 

“there is a variety of information that mario will be measuring, such as the frequency and amplitude of the vibrations in buzz pollination, which i can plug directly into our robo-bees and tell that to vibrate with the same frequencies and amplitudes,” jafferis said. 

but, what can these robotic bees actually tell researchers that living bees cannot, and how would the data influence bee conservation and crop production? 

bio-inspired robots have been utilized to study the behavior and anatomy of many animal species in recent decades, and their use is only growing as they are able to provide novel information that scientists have never before been able to retrieve.

“biomimetic robots enable us to control individuals in experiments, and we can pinpoint differences in the behaviors of live animals, which we cannot do in any other setting,” said david bierbach, a bio-robotics researcher, in a 2021 press conference at the university of konstanz.

jafferis believes that robotics could be the key to achieving detailed analyses of buzz pollination, illustrating how a bee’s characteristics affect their ability to buzz and what types of vibrations are most effective for pollination.

“we can’t tell an actual bee, ‘hey we want to see what happens if you let go of one of your feet,’ but with a robot we can,” jafferis said. “we can tell the robots to vibrate and grab flowers and do things in different ways that a bee is not doing on its own.”

the need for bees

bees are in a current state of worldwide decline, and their biodiversity is suffering in a way that may lead to the complete extinction of certain rare species in the near future.  

“we fear bee decline,” said michael roswell, ph.d., an entomologist at the university of maryland. “with 4,000 species of bees in the united states and 20,000 species on earth, we expect that some will be doing better than others at any given time, but we’re certainly afraid that many rare species are doing worse and worse.”

roswell published a study in april 2022 that highlighted the importance of rare bees in plant-pollinator networks. he and his team were able to show that less common species, many of which were buzz pollinators, often fertilize plants that more common species do not pollinate at all. roswell believes that vallejo-marin and jafferis’ study would expand his research in a way that could help to target bee conservation efforts towards the buzz pollinators that are most in need of protection and that are needed most by their ecological environments.

“we are trying to use this project as a platform to help people realize that not all bees are the same and that different bees do different jobs,” vallejo-marin said. “it is important to maintain the biodiversity of bees so that not just one or two species are doing well, because every species is vitally important.”

if the robotic bees are able to successfully replicate buzz pollination, they may be able to aid in sustainable methods of crop production as well.   

“if one bee species is suffering, the robots could tell us if there is another species that can fill in and pollinate these vital crops instead, or if we need to focus all of our resources on the conservation of that species,” jafferis said.

the researchers are optimistic that they will eventually be able to pair the optimal bee with the optimal crop, which would not only supply humans with an effective and environmentally conscious method of crop fertilization, but would also help bees to strengthen their populations in areas with bounties of plants that match their pollination styles.

over the next three years, vallejo-marin and jafferis will be working toward these sizable goals, combining their expertise to create a groundbreaking interdisciplinary device that may be able to positively influence bees, humans, plants, and the environment as a whole.  

“it is hard to work with bees and not fall in love with them,” vallejo-marin said. “they are such charismatic creatures, and once you care about them you will care about them forever.”

vacuolar myelinopathy is a neurological disease most commonly seen in bird species such as eagles and coots. the brains of the infected organisms develop lesions in the white matter of the nervous system, causing a loss of motor function. mortuary circles call this “swiss cheese brain.”

from its first recorded instance near degray lake in arkansas during the winter of 1994-1995, researchers, including aquatic scientist susan wilde, conducted field and laboratory studies to determine how species contract this disease. through laboratory and field experimentation, wilde and her team have recently concluded that a toxin produced by cyanobacteria is growing on invasive plant species within water bodies in the southeastern united states.

wilde, an associate professor at the university of georgia, worked with an international team from various scientific backgrounds. their findings, published in science, discovered the epiphytic cyanobacteria (aetokthonos hydrillicola) grow on hydrilla verticillata, a non-native plant species found in bodies of water. wildlife, such as fish, birds, and amphibians, eat these plants and consume the neurotoxin that leads to vacuolar myelinopathy.

vacuolar myelinopathy is not limited to the waterfowl that feed on these plants, explained anton j. reiner, a professor of anatomy and neurobiology at the university of tennessee health science center.

“it’s not a uniquely avian brain disease. it winds up looking like a uniquely avian brain disease because you have to consume a lot of it,” said reiner.

vacuolar myelinopathy also affects fish and amphibians that end up eating these cyanobacteria-infected invasive plants. fish, amphibians and waterfowl that feed on hydrilla become infected with vacuolar myelinopathy. higher-level predators such as coots and eagles consume the smaller animals, thus continuing the spread of the disease throughout the entire food web.

“so-called ‘apex predators’ like eagles, for example, wind up being especially susceptible to [vacuolar myelinopathy] because of their diet,”reiner said.

the disease manifests approximately five days after exposure when clinical signs of loss of motor control function become visible in avian species like eagles and coots. infected coots will float on the surface of the water on their backs and spin in circles, making them easy prey for eagles and other large avian predators. infected eagles will sit on tree branches with their wings drooping downward. according to reiner, there are instances of eagles flying into the sides of mountains while infected with vacuolar myelinopathy.

“every eagle i’ve ever seen with symptoms [of vacuolar myelinopathy] has died,” said william bowerman, professor and chair of the department of environmental science & technology at the university of maryland.

bowerman is a long-time collaborator of wilde’s on vacuolar myelinopathy, and his current research revolves around eagles as indicators of climate change and contaminants around the great lakes. he explained that birds are quality gauges of how the environment responds to various stressors, so the conservation of avian species from vacuolar myelinopathy impacts everyone.

“[vacuolar myelinopathy] killed tens of thousands of waterfowl and over 100 bald eagles. so, it’s a new, emerging disease, and it could be linked to pollution and also may be somewhat of an indicator of climate change,” said bowerman.

wilde and her team discuss spreading awareness and advocacy as a means to combat vacuolar myelinopathy in their recently published research. early in the paper, they state that the shift from the previous name of the neurological disease, “avian vacuolar myelinopathy,” to its current title “vacuolar myelinopathy” is necessary as it is not only limited to avian species. wilde and her team state that they are not yet sure of the potential impact vacuolar myelinopathy has on humans and recommend that further research be conducted.

“we want people to know the lakes where this disease has been documented and to use caution in consuming birds and fish from these lakes,” wilde told the american association for the advancement of science.

while there is still plenty of research to be done on vacuolar myelinopathy, wilde and her team’s discovery of the link between the cyanobacterial toxins and the lethal neurological disorder helps lie to rest the source of the perplexing avian deaths. bowerman hopes that wilde’s work will serve as a reminder of the importance of conserving a clean environment.

“it’s just important to understand that our organisms in the environment tell us what’s going on,” bowerman said. “if the birds and the mammals are healthy, then people are healthy.”

when the scientist returned to the remote patch of cloud forest the next summer, all of the amphibians had vanished. not only the tree frogs were gone, but also the toads and the stream frogs. the streams were eerily silent and empty. the mysterious 1993 disappearance of the amphibians would change the course of the scientist’s life and unveil a global ecological disaster. 

the scientist was karen lips, an ecologist now working with the university of maryland’s biology department. she has dedicated her life to the study and preservation of amphibians. she returned to the research site in the summer of 1996 to a forest devoid of amphibian life. lips observed no obvious change to the habitat to explain the 90 percent decline of all the local frog species in such a short time span. 

by the time she returned to the u.s. that september, she was ready to present an argument to the scientific community that her costa rica site had experienced an enigmatic amphibian decline. enigmatic amphibian declines are mysterious mass disappearances of amphibians that occur without any obvious change to their environment. lips had been reading reports about the mysterious disappearance of amphibian populations around the world since she was a grad student. her research would eventually help reveal the culprit: an invasive microscopic fungus called batrachochytrium dendrobatidis or bd.

bd spreads between ecosystems infecting amphibians when the fungus’s spores pass from the water into an unsuspecting amphibian’s skin. the fungus will then kill the creature over the course of two weeks by disrupting the animal’s electrolyte balance and reducing its number of lymphocyte immune cells. once the amphibian is dead more spores grown in the dying creature will be released through the skin into the environment to infect more animals completing the pathogen’s life cycle. 

peter jenkins is an environmental lawyer who worked with lips to advocate for u.s. government action against bd and its more recently discovered variant bsal. jenkins explained the threat bd poses to the amphibian world by drawing a parallel to the pandemic currently being faced by humans saying bd is “like coronavirus for amphibians but worse.” 

lips witnessed the devastation wrought by bd before she figured out what was killing her beloved amphibians. there were no frogs left to study so she would have to get creative to find the source of the decline. she compared the loss of her amphibians in southern costa rica to a previous mass disappearance to the north of her site and made a startling inference. lips hypothesized that the collapse of the amphibian populations was sweeping through central america like a wave. so, in order to gather evidence for the theory, she would have to get out in front of this wave. 

lips moved on to a new location in panama where amphibians were still abundant called fortuna. on her first visit, she cataloged 40 species. when she returned in december of 1996 she encountered her worst fears. the frogs were dying. population numbers were down in many of the area’s streams and many of the frogs she and her team were finding were unhealthy or dead. many even died in the hands of researchers.

this time however lips and her team had bodies to examine. eventually, scientists determined that the frogs were being killed by a microscopic fungus. joyce longcore, an associate research professor at the university of maine, soon discovered the bd fungus while studying a dead specimen from the u.s. national zoo. longcore and her colleagues also found the fungus on a dying frog from australia. when taken together the data showed that bd was decimating amphibian populations globally though more research was obviously needed. 

lips and her team continued that research over the following years. in 2004 they documented the collapse of yet another amphibian population this time in central panama. lips was stuck in the u.s. at the time but her graduate students diligently stepped up their efforts so they could gather as much data as possible before the epidemic wiped out the frogs.

lips said, “it was frustrating to be trapped at school while ‘my’ frogs were dying in panama—after all those years of work and all those transects, i would miss the actual epidemic. but i knew that while my field team documented the devastation, my responsibility was to tell everybody in the larger community what was happening and what it meant.” 

in more recent years lips has shifted her focus from fieldwork to public advocacy. in 2009 she teamed up with the defenders of wildlife to petition the u.s. fish and wildlife service to better regulate the pet trade in order to prevent the spread of bd in the u.s. the usfws ultimately shelved the project after it became clear that bd was already present in the domestic pet market and could not be blocked from the country.

however, a bd variant able to infect salamanders known as bsal has not been found in north america. the urging of lips and other advocates got the usfws to ban the import of 200 salamander species in 2016 to protect america’s salamander species from bsal transmission. the u.s. has more native salamander species than any other nation. lips hopes to spare them the fate of her green tree frogs.

lips is hopeful that the pandemic will bring needed attention to and the plight of amphibians saying: “if we can prevent the next covid we can also save the frogs [and salamanders] at the same time.” in the coronavirus age, she is now championing the concept of “one health:” that human, wildlife, and environmental health are all linked and must be managed collectively. 

bats have always been shrouded in our own fearful projections. in the time of the coronavirus pandemic, this comes to a head. but it is important to remember their place on our planet: vital supporters of our ecosystems and overall well-being.

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washington –  for congolese honorary park ranger adams cassinga, there is nothing quite like observing an elephant in its natural habitat.

“it is a feeling of peace. it is a feeling of amazement,” he said. “it’s such a huge animal. if you have seen it on television, you cannot imagine how large that animal is.”

but cassinga also has witnessed the dangers that both elephants and park rangers face due to illegal poaching. speaking at a rally saturday in front of the white house, he said the ivory trade continues to endanger elephants and those who try to protect them. the rally was one of numerous events held worldwide from nepal to canada in honor of world elephant day, which aims to raise awareness of the plight of asian and african elephants due to habitat loss and poaching.

“initially a ranger was conceived to be a herder, but in this age, facing a gruesome reality of poaching and illicit trade of tusks and other wildlife body parts, we have become soldiers,” cassinga said. “poaching remains a chronic, significant problem in parts of africa, especially where wildlife management authorities are still underfunded.”

it’s estimated that less than 50,000 asian elephants are still in existence, down from 100,000 at the start of the 20th century, according to the world wildlife foundation. meanwhile, african elephants have dropped from upwards of 3 million to around 415,000, and are particularly vulnerable to poaching for ivory.

chanting “e is for elephant, not extinction,” the demonstrators urged additional restrictions on the global ivory trade. while a federal ban implemented by then-president barack obama in 2016 largely prohibits the interstate trading of ivory, selling ivory within state boundaries is still unregulated in the majority of states and d.c.

“people are killing elephants for these trinkets, these tiny little things for your bedside table. what is the point of that?” said caroline hopkins, who attended the march with her sister. “a whole entire elephant has to be killed just so you can have a little trinket sitting on your shelf. i think that’s absolutely ridiculous.”