With apologies to Beyonce, 2018 University of Cincinnati graduate Sylvana Ross is the Queen Bee on 笔叠厂鈥� Bugs That Rule The World.
The entomologist 鈥� who appears in all four hours of the documentary series about endangered insects that pollinate everything from flowers and fruits to vegetables, almonds and avocados 鈥� introduces national TV viewers to the in Lick Run Greenway along Queen City Avenue in South Fairmount. She鈥檚 a co-founder and board member of the nonprofit organization that mentors gardeners, beekeepers and young entomologists.
鈥淚f you love to eat, and you love pretty things, we need pollinators,鈥� says Ross, a UC track team recruit who developed a love of bugs her senior year at UC. After earning a biology degree, she taught several years for , the Greater Cincinnati enrichment program, before enrolling in a five-year doctoral program at Cornell University in 2022.
The 鈥淟ifegivers鈥� episode on Wednesday, May 14 (10 p.m., Channels 48, 16, 54, PBS) explores the diminishing number of bees, butterflies and moths in the past decade, which has been dubbed the 鈥渋nsect apocalypse鈥� by scientists. NBC News reported in 2015 that
鈥淚t was a warning bell for something happening in the ecosystem that鈥檚 impacting the insects that we really need,鈥� Ross says.
鈥淲ithout all the honey bees that are pollinating all the crops, our food would be very, very expensive or very, very bland, because we wouldn鈥檛 be able to grow enough to feed ourselves. We have come upon a reliance on honey bees to help feed us,鈥� Ross says.
About 10 minutes of the May 14 episode is devoted to the Queen City Pollinator Project that Ross helped form with co-founders Carrie Driehaus and Jenny O鈥橠onnell in 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown. Ross got caught up in their efforts after seeing that Driehaus always carried a butterfly net in the trunk of her car.
The public TV series provides amazing close-up photography of bees, butterflies and months from around the world. The 鈥淟ifegivers鈥� episode also features segments from Japan, France, Kenya and Mexico. Ross appears throughout each episode commenting about various insects from an interview taped a year ago on the Cornell campus in Ithaca, N.Y.
When Bugs That Rule The World explains how it takes four generations of butterflies to migrate annually from Mexico to northern Canada 鈥� while a single butterfly can make the return trip 鈥� Ross marvels: 鈥淗ow does an organism that鈥檚 less than a gram, and less than four inches, make it 2,000 miles in a couple of months? And then arrive in a place they鈥檝e never been to before? In fact, that their parents have never been to before? And their great-grandparents have never been to before?鈥�
In the May 7 premiere, Ross was filmed searching inner city Baltimore for tapinoma sessile, the 鈥渙dorous house ant鈥� that鈥檚 the subject of her five-year doctoral study. That hour also featured reports filmed in Panama, Costa Rica, Denmark and Tanzania. Her Cincinnati and Baltimore scenes were filmed in 2023.
The Colorado native wasn鈥檛 bitten by an interest in insects until after she accepted a scholarship to sprint for the Bearcats track team.
鈥淚 liked bugs as much as other kids when I was younger, but at some point you go from 鈥榖ugs are cool鈥� to 鈥榖ugs are gross.鈥� I knew I liked biology and science in high school. I presumed I鈥檇 either be pre-med or go into veterinary medicine,鈥� she says.
But Ross 鈥渇ell in love with science and nature鈥� while volunteering to help UC associate biology professor Nathan Morehouse with his lab project studying jumping spiders. It was a huge surprise to her Bearcat track teammates who saw her on PBS last week.
鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 interested in bugs when I was running track, so all my teammates texted me and said, 鈥榃e didn鈥檛 know you were into bugs!鈥� 鈥� Ross says by phone from Cornell.
At Cornell, Ross participated in a program called 鈥淪uperheros in Science: Women in Entomology.鈥� TV producer Doug Schultz saw Ross on YouTube and contacted her academic advisor. He invited her to participate in his four-hour documentary about the insect apocalypse.
鈥淚t sounded amazing, and it turned out to be better than I ever imagined. They did such a quality job. This is really, really big! It鈥檚 going to be really impactful," she says.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 know what we鈥檙e losing, because we don鈥檛 know what we have.鈥�
And it鈥檚 really, really cool to show off the Queen City Pollinators Project to a worldwide television audience.
鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing. Jenny, Carrie and I have put our heart and soul into it,鈥� says Ross, who wants to return to Cincinnati next month, possibly for a screening of the 鈥淟ifegivers鈥� episode followed by a panel discussion.
鈥淲e love our city. We love what we do, and we really hope more people appreciate the outdoors and volunteer to come join us,鈥� she says.
笔叠厂鈥� Bugs That Rule The World airs 10 p.m. Wednesday on Channels 48, 16 and 54 in May. The 鈥淓at or Be Eaten鈥� episode airs May 21. The four-part series concludes with 鈥淏eetle Mania鈥� on May 28.
