[Pollinator] some news about Sheila Colla to share

[Victoria MacPhail]

Hello to the Pollinator Community!  Apologies to those who get this message
more than once.  I wanted to let you know that our dear colleague, Dr.
Sheila Colla, of York University, one of the foremost bumble bee
researchers in Canada and North America, has recently been diagnosed with a
rare and aggressive form of thoracic cancer.  She is already feeling ill as
she awaits treatment.

While I can not make her cancer go away by myself , I can help to support
her and her family financially, to ease that stress and uncertainty.  With
that in mind, myself and some of her other friends have launched a GoFundMe
page to help her:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-sheila-colla-through-cancer-treatment.

If you have done any research on bees you have probably come across her
name.  Her PhD work set the stage for the listing of *Bombus affinis* as an
endangered species in Canada, and she continued blazing trails from there.
She has done critical work in her lab with students and with colleagues
identifying and investigating the distribution, natural history, and
conservation status of all bumble bees in N. America, identifying threats
to them, and potential conservation solutions.  She is one of the lead
researchers behind the community science project BumbleBeeWatch that is
generating tons of data and awareness. Most recently, she and
another colleague published a framework for a wild pollinator conservation
strategy for Canada.  She has been active in advocating for their
protection on municipal, provincial, and federal levels, with NGOs and
industry, and given presentations and bee walks to literally thousands of
members of the public.  To name just a few things!

Please consider sharing this message, the link, and/or donating to
the GoFundMe if you can. E-transfers can be sent directly to
Sheila_123 at hotmail.com if you prefer (as GoFundMe takes a small percentage
of the donation as a transaction fee).



I know that this news will come as a shock to many of you. I am so, so
sorry for the situation and for the need to share the news.


*Please note that Sheila is very overwhelmed right now, and doesn’t have a
lot of capacity to respond to messages or questions. *You can check in with
me if you need to, and we will provide updates through the campaign page
when we can.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-sheila-colla-through-cancer-treatment.

Best,

Victoria

Victoria MacPhail, PhD (she/her)
Pollination Biologist and Ecologist
vmacphail at gmail.com
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