Bee Succinct

Scientists who try to explain their work to the public often meet with blank, uncomprehending stares. A UMD doctoral student avoided this issue, compressing almost three years of research into an engaging video and winning an international competition.

Sammy Ramsey Ph.D. ’19 recently took first place and the People’s Choice Award in the annual Three Minute Thesis competition sponsored by Universitas 21, a global network of research-intensive universities. The competition, which requires graduate students to explain their research to non-specialists in just 180 seconds, drew competitors from 25 universities around the world. 

Ramsey’s video, “Varroa destructor: The Curious Case of the Bee Mite’s Bite,” focused on the parasite’s significant role in the decline of the honeybee population. In it, he questioned findings that went unchallenged for almost 50 years, concluding that the mites do not feed on the blood of the honeybees, but instead consume their fat tissue. Ramsey, now in Thailand to conduct further research, likened the mites to flesh-devouring werewolves, when they were initially perceived to be like thirsty vampires.

“Maybe we’ve had so little success in killing (Varroa destructor) because we’ve been trying to drive a stake through something for which we needed a silver bullet,” Ramsey says in the video.

Ramsey’s research is crucial for the preservation of honeybees, who play a huge role in pollinating crops that are integral to our survival. While Ramsey has focused on the parasite’s effect on the bees, most attention is given to detrimental human action, like pesticide use. His work has now caused a fundamental shift in the understanding of the decline of bees, according to Dennis vanEngelsdorp, Ramsey’s research adviser. 

The international judging panel described Ramsey’s presentation as “really engaging” and said that he presented “clearly and with confidence.”

“I think it helped that Sammy went to church a lot and that he talks like a preacher sometimes,” vanEngelsdorp says.

The son of a minister, Ramsey acknowledges that his church background played a role in his animated delivery but says, “It’s difficult for me to separate my interest in the subject from how I speak.”

It took Ramsey at least 50 attempts to make the video before he was satisfied. He first used a stopwatch to try to condense his research into three minutes but came across constant speed bumps: He would go over or under the time limit, leave out important information, include too many facts. He finally gave up winging it and wrote out a script that presented his findings in the form of a captivating story, one that earned him the award.

While his video was effective in communicating complex ideas, he admits that it may work against him in some respects. 

“One of the problems to re-stating something complicated is that you absolutely have to leave out some details,” Ramsey says. “I’m getting a lot of questions from researchers now, getting emails about my thoroughness.”