OBCP was founded at the university in 2010 and Lisle Gibbs has been the director since its inception. The partnership is a collaboration between Ohio State’s Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology and the School of Environment and Natural Resources brings research expertise to the Ohio Division of Wildlife.

Each year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service distributes funding to each state to support animal conservation through the State Wildlife Grant Program. Ohio receives about $3 million annually, and roughly one-third goes to OBCP.

Thanks to the Ohio Biodiversity Conservation Partnership (OBCP), the Ohio Bee Survey is entering its fifth year of data collection. More than 330 species of bees have been collected either in water bowls or nets, including almost 50 “specialist” species. Specialist bees have narrow diets, restricting their pollen collection to a few plant species, and often exhibit specific habitat associations, too,” said Karen Goodell, a professor at The Ohio State University Newark and a member of OBCP. “We’ve collected a ton of ecological data over the last few years about these rare species. We now know where they occur and have a better understanding of their habit requirements.” 

Read the entire article on the Ohio State News website.