Inhalt: Hands-on course introducing bee colony and population models for pesticide risk assessment
held in connection with the ICPPR Bee Protection Group Symposium (23 – 25 February 2027 in Wageningen, Netherlands)
Date: Mon, 22 February 2027, 9:00 – 16:00 (exact times may change)
Location: Campus Wageningen University and Research. Building Gaia/Lumen (Registration: https://event.wur.nl/icppr2027/home)
Min./max. number of participants: 8 / 20 (once the course is full, additional registrations will be placed on a waiting list. If a spot does not become available, the course fee will be fully refunded)
Course fee: 135 € excl. VAT (164 € incl. VAT) (coffee breaks included), course fee due together with the registration for the ICPPR BPG Symposium
Description: Honey bee colony models and population models for non-Apis bees can be used as tools in pesticide risk assessments to complement and extend available study data. In the course, we will introduce three models that are publicly available and ready for use in risk assessment applications: the honey bee colony models BeePop+ and BEEHAVEecotox/ecoGUTS,and the solitary bee population model SolBeePopecotox. The course will focus on hands-on exercises that give participants insights into each model and guide them through the first steps of running the models and applying them to scenarios relevant to risk assessment. The aim of the course is to introduce participants to the practical use of the models and provide the opportunity for exchange with the model developers. The course builds on the “1st Symposium on bee effect models” held online in March 2026 which provided an overview of the models in a series of lectures.
Target audience: The course is designed for participants who are interested in learning about the bee models developed for pesticide risk assessments and seek hands-on experience with the models, their associated software, and their applications. The course does not require a background in (bee) model development or applications.
Requirements: The course will be offered in-person only (no online option). Participants must bring their own laptops and install any required software prior to the course. No expertise in (bee) modelling or prior knowledge of the presented models is required, but course participants are strongly encouraged to view the recordings of the “1st Symposium on bee effect models” in preparation for the course (https://www.icppr.com/icppr/icppr-working-groups/bee-protection#c11565).
Prior to the course, software and short introductory material will be provided for each model.
Course instructors:
Jeffrey Minucci (US Environmental Protection Agency)
Vanessa Roeben (Bayer AG)
Amelie Schmolke (RIFCON GmbH)
Johannes Lückmann (RIFCON GmbH)