Bee-Dance Analysis: A Project I Helped Because I Loved the Question

Some projects interest me before there is any discussion of business. This was one of them.

The subject was bee-dance analysis and signal mapping overlaid with environmental controls. I contributed pro bono because biomimicry is one of my favorite subjects. My work was on the strategic and communication side of the project. The scientific analysis and implementation belonged to the people doing that work.

There is something compelling about taking a phenomenon that many people would pass without a second thought and asking whether there is more to understand. The public story begins with that curiosity. It then has to become precise enough to do justice to the actual inquiry.

Curiosity can open the door

A specialized research description can discourage a reader who would otherwise find the subject fascinating. The first explanation needs to give that person a way in. What is being examined? Why put the signals alongside environmental controls? What question makes the work worth pursuing?

Those questions help organize a story without pretending to answer the scientific question in advance. A reader does not need a promise of a breakthrough to appreciate a worthwhile investigation.

That balance is one of the reasons this kind of work appeals to me. The narrative should make people want to understand more. It should also leave them with an accurate sense of what the project is trying to learn.

Keep the controls in the picture

The environmental context is part of what makes this particular assignment interesting. Signals presented alone can invite a simple story. Placing them beside the conditions being considered asks for a more careful explanation.

I would want a reader to understand the relationship the project is examining, rather than leave with the impression that an attractive diagram has already established causation. The word “controls” also needs to retain the meaning given to it by the research team. It should not quietly become a claim that the project automated a habitat or manipulated an ecosystem.

Why I made room for it

Pro bono work gives me a way to contribute to subjects I care about even when the usual commercial structure is not the reason for the engagement. Here, the attraction was the question itself and the opportunity to help make it understandable.

The project also reflects something I value about advisory work. You can contribute without being the person who makes the discovery. Helping a team describe its purpose, find the right language and explain why someone outside the room should care has its own value.

I continue to be interested in projects that begin with close attention to the natural world. This one belongs in the collection because it brought that interest into the work directly.