Dr. Valerie Peters is an assistant professor of biology at Eastern Kentucky University whose research focuses on pollinators in tropical forests and coastal ecosystems. She studies how pollinator communities and the pollination they support are affected by climate change and habitat loss, with a focus on protecting these systems in Costa Rica. She earned her Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Georgia, following earlier studies in biology and ecology at Pennsylvania State University.

Her work centers on understanding how pollinator diversity supports ecosystem health and food production. By studying bees and other species across elevation gradients, she examines how changing conditions influence where pollinators occur and how effectively they pollinate plants. Her research contributes to conservation strategies that protect pollination services, including efforts to restore pollinator-friendly habitats in agricultural and forested landscapes. This work helps inform how land can be managed to support both biodiversity and long-term food security.

In the field, she conducts long-term monitoring through sampling and photographic surveys across different elevations. Early in her work, seeing bees up close under a microscope sparked a lasting fascination—the diversity of their colors, patterns and forms rivals that of birds, yet much of it goes unnoticed. That sense of discovery continues to shape her approach to research and teaching in the field. Through this work, she helps build a clearer picture of how pollinators respond to changing conditions, providing the knowledge needed to protect these essential species and the ecosystems they support.