BeeTech 2026 Presenters / Présentateurs
Karen Pederson
Karen Pedersen a second generation honey producer at Pedersen Apiaries near Cut Knife, SK. She learned beekeeping in the 90’s on outdoor overwintered singles and mating nucs. Focusing as much on culling poor stock as in reproducing from good stock, she has continued the stock improvement program at Pedersen Apiaries. Since this means they are stuck between hating to do record keeping and detesting making decisions without data, they’ve designed ways to keep easy records that are available when you need them. Constantly on the search for solutions to their current beekeeping problems, Pedersen Apiaries is always working on open questions. The current ongoing experiments are on overwintering queens and figuring out the most cost efficient way to identify stock that is susceptible to varroa mites. Her favorite thing to do is be in the hives observing the bees.
Dr. Jeff Pettis
Research Scientist and Consultant, Pettis and Associates LLC
Dr. Pettis is an Entomologist who specializes in Apiculture and honeybee health. As former research leader of the USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, MD and now an independent consultant, Dr. Pettis has focused on improving colony health by limiting the impact of pests, diseases and pesticides on honeybees. His research areas include: IPM techniques to reduc
e the impacts of parasitic mites and disease, effects of pesticides, pathogens, and temperature on queen health and longevity, host-parasite relationships and bee behavior. Dr. Pettis is Past-President of Apimondia, the International Federation of Beekeeper’s Associations and has served on several international committees including the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) and the United Nations IPBES Pollinator status report in 2016. Dr. Pettis has more than 40 years of research experience conducted in 20+ countries; he is frequently interviewed by the media for his opinions on worldwide pollinator declines and honey bee health. Dr. Pettis received undergraduate and MS degrees in Entomology from the University of Georgia and his doctoral degree in Entomology from Texas A&M University in 1992.
Dr. Geoff Williams
Dr. Geoff Williams is an Associate Professor at Auburn University (USA), where he directs the university’s Bee Center. Geoff received an undergraduate degree in animal biology at the University of Alberta, and then studied Nosema ceranae biology and management for his Ph.D. at Dalhousie University. He then jumped across the Atlantic to work on honey bee pesticide-parasite interactions and tropilaelaps mites at the University of Bern (Switzerland) and Chiang Mai University (Thailand) for six years as a research scientist. Geoff joined Auburn in late 2016; his work is mainly focussed on varroa and tropilaelaps biology and management. He is currently Vice President of the global honey bee association COLOSS, an apiculture subject editor for the Journal of Economic Entomology, and coordinator of the U.S. Beekeeping Survey. A recipient of several awards, he is most proud for being recognized with the CAPA student award way back in 2008! He’s looking forward to visiting with Canadian beekeepers in February!
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