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Abstract

The cause or causes of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) are uncertain. CCD defines specific characteristics of the nationwide deaths of honey bee colonies in the last decade. Adult bees often disappear from the hive and die, leaving the colony weak and vulnerable to disease. Environmental scientists and agriculturalists have developed many different theories about CCD and its origins. The different theories create challenges regarding the effective dissemination of information about CCD to the different realms of public information seekers. There is a need for an exploration of the online communication of CCD information using federal environmental agency web resources. CCD research information dissemination practices are one example of the trans-disciplinary complexity surrounding many current environmental issues. The study addresses different information “packages” offered or not offered for different types of CCD information seekers. The goal of the study is to inform future research addressing the comprehensive construction of federal e-government science information by finding strengths and weaknesses in the current information landscape of CCD resources on the web.

About Author

Meredith is a Knoxville, Tennessee native with a bachelor’s degree in ceramic arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland. Currently preparing to begin doctoral studies in information sciences and communication, Meredith’s research interests focus on the intersection of e-government and e-science, citizen involvement in complex scientific problem solving, and the systemic function of large-scale data infrastructures for environmental science research. Meredith has been fortunate to work as a graduate teaching and research assistant for Dr. Vandana Singh and Dr. Dania Bilal as a master’s degree student at the University of Tennessee School of Information Sciences. Meredith also performed a role as a paid intern at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Distributed Active Archive Center for Biogeochemical Dynamics (DAAC) and contributed to NASA’s FLUXNET network database and other climate change data archiving projects at the DAAC. In the future Meredith’s goal is to achieve a position as a research professional, publishing scholarly work as a representative of an academic institution and to teach students as a professor of information sciences specializing in science communication studies.

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