Hive mind project nets scholarship for Campbell teen

Anna Yang used WiFi to capture sounds of bees.

Busy as a bee

Anna Yang, 18, of Campbell is among 21 Davidson Fellows Scholarship Program winners for 2023. Yang, a freshman at Stanford University, won a $10,000 scholarship for her project, Smart Bee Colony Monitor: Internet of Things Device and Fusion Convolutional Neural Network for Queen Assessment.

A beekeeper for five years, Yang learned that Colony Collapse Disorder often occurs because the queen dies or is unable to reproduce, and that experienced beekeepers can determine whether the queen is alive purely by the sound of the hive. She used this knowledge to build a WiFi module equipped with sensors to capture data inside and outside the hive to determine whether the queen is present and healthy.

The Davidson Fellows Scholarship program offers $50,000, $25,000 and $10,000 college scholarships to students 18 or younger,who have completed significant projects that have the potential to benefit society in the fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, literature and music.

“I am so grateful that my research, alongside the work of my class of fellows, is being highlighted for its incredible positive impact on the world,” said Yang in a statement.

Burrowing owls webinar

The Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority is hosting a Nov. 3 Zoom webinar on the burrowing owls of the Bay Area. This endangered species is one of the only owls active during the day, and the virtual presentation, set for noon-12:30 p.m., will cover what can be done to protect them. Register at Eventbrite.com.